When will the United States elect its first woman president? Many political observers believed that Hillary Clinton would win the White House in 2008, and many still believe she is a strong contender for 2016. Yet, while many believe that electing the first woman president is not a question of if, but who and when, media speculation on the topic has yet to move it from an interesting talking point to political reality. The question remains: Just how close are we to breaking this final political glass ceiling? By merging the two literatures of women and politics (especially women as candidates) and presidential campaigns and elections, a winning strategy for women candidates can emerge by analyzing what political science research tells us from past campaigns and what we can expect in the future.

Lori Cox Han is Professor of Political Science at Chapman University. She is the author of several books, including Presidents and the American Presidency; A Presidency Upstaged: The Public Leadership of George H.W. Bush; Women and U.S. Politics: The Spectrum of Leadership, 2nd ed.; and Governing From Center Stage: White House Communication Strategies During the Television Age of Politics. She is also editor of New Directions in the American Presidency; and co-editor of Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?; The Presidency and the Challenge of Democracy; and In the Public Domain: Presidents and the Challenge of Public Leadership. She is past president of the Presidency Research Group, an organized section of the American Political Science Association devoted to the study of the presidency. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California.

Tables
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Electing Madam President
Chapter 2 Women as Candidates
Chapter 3 The Invisible Primary
Chapter 4 The Nomination Process
Chapter 5 The General Election
Chapter 6 A Look Ahead: 2016 and Beyond
Selected Bibliography
Index