usands of
women rallied to the standard of the new party. As most of them were
disfranchised they brought little voting strength but the other
parties were forced to admit them and for the first time they gained a
foothold in politics. The division in Republican ranks resulted in
putting into power the Democratic party, with an unfavorable record on
woman suffrage and a President who was opposed to it, but "votes for
women" was now a national political issue.

When the suffrage leaders went to the new Congress for a Federal
Amendment they met a Senate Committee every member but one of which
was in favor of it. The vote in the Senate on March 14, 1914, resulted
in a majority but not the required two-thirds, and it was a majority
of Republicans. The history of the struggle for this amendment for the
next six years, through Democratic and Republican administrations,
will be found in Chapter XX. Speaker Champ Clark was a steadfast
friend. In 1914 William Jennings Bryan declared for it and thenceforth
spoke for it many times. In 1915 President Woodrow Wilson announced
his conversion to woman suffrage and in 1918 to the Federal Amendment
and never wavered in his loyalty, rendering every assistance in his
power. His record will be found in these volumes. In 1916, after
Justice Charles Evans Hughes was nominated by the Republicans for the
presidency, he announced his adherence to the Federal Amendment, being
in advance of his party. This year the Republican and Democratic
national platforms for the first time contained a plank in favor of
woman suffrage but by State and not Federal action. A remarkable
feature of the progress of this amendment in Congress was the increase
of its advocates among members from the South, who for the most part
believed it to be an interference with the State's rights. In 1887,
when the first vote was taken in the Senate not one southern member
voted for it. On the second occasion in 1914 Senators Lea of
Tennessee, Ransdell of Louisiana, Sheppard of Texas, Ashurst of
Arizona and Owen of Oklahoma voted in favor. In 1919 on the final
vote, if Arizona, New Mexico and Delaware are included, 17 Senators
from southern States cast their ballots for the Federal Amendment, and
four from northern States who did so were born in the South. It
received the votes of 75 Representatives from southern States. The
women of every southern State suffrage association worked for this
amendment, believing that it was hop