September 23rd, 1838, in a house in rural Homer, Ohio, an influential figure was born by the name Victoria California Claflin. The defining characteristic of her life? She was born a woman.

     Throughout her life, she would take on the name Victoria Woodhull, and be known for, among many other accomplishments, being the first woman to run for president. 

    Victoria's childhood was troubled. Her father was abusive, and so,  in 1853 at the age of 15, she eloped with Canning Woodhull, who was no better to Victoria than her father had been. Woodhull was an alcoholic, and eventually deserted Victoria and their children.

    After eleven years, Victoria acquired a divorce from Woodhull, and met Colonel James Harvey Blood, whom she married in 1866 and settled with in New York. By then Victoria was an advocate of women's divorce, and was beginning to find interest in other issues of women's rights. 

    Victoria's run for presidency was not her first adventure in pioneering women's rights. In 1870, she and her sister became the first women on Wall Street. 

    Woodhull, Claflin and Company was a successful brokerage that later used its funds to publish a weekly newspaper, which ran from 1870 to 1876. 

    In 1871, Victoria Woodhull, in an act that would redefine the future, announced that she was running for the United States presidency.

    She was nominated for the position by the Equal Rights Party, and chose Frederick Douglass as her running mate, although he never accepted the nomination nor recognized her campaign.