傳奇的維多利亞

On 2 November 1872， three days before the nation went to the polls to elect its 19th president， one of the candidates was arrested. Two US deputy marshals， Colfax and Bernard， appeared early in the morning in Broad Street， calling at a nondescript shop front at number 48， around the corner from the imposing facade of the New York Stock Exchange. It was not their usual beat， but there they were， on a bitterly cold morning， trudging down Wall Street， to arrest a woman. Not even a prostitute or a thief—unless you believed certain newspapers. Nor was she a husband-poisoner or a pickpocket， but a woman of substance. For a woman to run for the presidency was a ridiculous idea， of course， but you had to admire her gumption1）.

The deputy marshals were just in time. As they knocked at the door， a fast carriage swept past， but they could see the passenger was their woman， and gave chase. Stopping the carriage and producing a warrant， they arrested her on charges of sending obscene2） publications through the mail. The carriage was crammed with stacks of newspapers bearing the motto： PROGRESS！ FREE THOUGHT！ UNTRAMMELED LIVES！ The suspect， Victoria Woodhull， was reported to be calm and cool in the face of capture. She and her younger sister， Tennessee （“Tennie”） Claflin， who was travelling in the carriage with her， were escorted away.

Hillary Clinton will make history in Philadelphia3） when she formally becomes the first woman to be the presidential nominee of a major party. But she is not the first woman to be nominated as a presidential candidate： That distinction is held by Victoria Claflin Woodhull. In 1872， she became a third-party candidate， running against the incumbent4） Republican president， General Ulysses S Grant， and his Democratic challenger， New York publisher Horace Greeley. She would not have been able to vote for herself—that right would not be granted to American woman for another 50 years—but that did not deter5） this pioneering feminist from making a historic bid for change.

The Journey to Running for President

Woodhulls journey to contesting the presidency had begun in 1871， when she was invited to Washington to address the house judiciary6） committee. Woodhull made a bold statement before the committee： “Women are the equals of men before the law， and are equal in all their rights.” The committee declined to agree with her position， but Woodhulls appearance brought her to national attention.

Woodhull ended her speech with a threat “If Congress refuse to listen and to grant what women ask， there is but one course left to pursue. What is there left for women to do but to become the mothers of the future government？”

Congress would not concede an inch7）. And so on 9 May 1872， the National Woman Suffrage Association formed an offshoot， The Equal Rights Party. Woodhull was elected by the members to run for president. It was time for a dramatic new tactic： The nomination of Woodhull was a symbolic act of protest—the first of many to come.

Woodhulls presidential campaign was based on a platform far ahead of its time—it began with female suffrage8）， but she also endorsed9） free love and an end to the “slavery” of marriage. She believed in workers rights and trade unionism， equal pay for men and women， and universal healthcare. In some ways， she was more Bill than Hillary： She excelled at public speaking and was praised， even by her detractors， as a charismatic campaigner.

Her call to action was published in Woodhull and Claflins Weekly， the paper she ran with her sister in New York for six years. The battle cry—“We advocate the rights of the Lower Million against the Upper Ten！”—would find an echo in the slogan of the Occupy movement10） more than a century later.

Being the Focus of Attention

Victoria Woodhull was subjected to intense personal scrutiny11） and judgment， of a degree that male candidates did not experience. There was an uproar12） in the press. The reporting of Woodhulls activities would， as with female politicians ever since， rarely fail to incorporate comments on her attire. Woodhulls much-critiqued style choices included a penchant for13） short skirts—to the ankle， that is. By comparison， there was less commentary on the fact that her age， 34， technically disqualified her from becoming president， since the constitution mandates a minimum age of 35.

Some of her fiercest critics were women， who feared that her unconventional lifestyle would detract from the seriousness of the womens rights movement. Harriet Beecher Stowe， whose 1852 anti-slavery book Uncle Toms Cabin was the bestselling novel of the century， was one such critic. Her novel My Wife and I， published in 1871， featured a character called Audacia Dangereyes. When Audacia runs for president， the female protagonist applauds her fathers assessment of her：

“No woman that was not willing to be dragged through every kennel， and slopped into every dirty pail of water like an old mop， would ever consent to run as a candidate … and what sort of a brazen tramp of a woman would it be that could stand it …？ Would it be any kind of woman we should want to see at the head of our government？”

Woodhulls most zealous opponent， however， was the bewhiskered reformer Anthony Comstock， a United States postal inspector. He developed a plan to enhance his career by halting the progress of the first female candidate for president and destroying her reputation.

Her Road to Downfall

On 2 November 1872， three days prior to election day， Woodhull and her sister Tennie made a tactical decision that would bring about their downfall. They produced two incendiary14） stories for a special issue of The Woodhull and Claflin Weekly： New York preacher Henry Ward Beecher—a pillar of the community， a prominent abolitionist and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe—had adulterous affair with the wife of one of his long-term supporters; and Luther Challis—a prominent trader and Wall Street wolf， seduced two young girls.

The lurid articles provided Comstock with a convenient lever to secure his reputation and curry favor with15） donors for his crusade against obscene literature. Employing intermediaries， he ordered copies of the Weekly through the post， to trigger a warrant under legislation， issued for the sisters arrest， and they were soon apprehended16） by Colfax and Bernard， caught in the act of attempting to stop the authorities from confiscating copies of the offending edition.

The sisters were taken directly to the circuit court， where large crowds gathered outside， according to one observer， “wild with excitement.” In the courtroom， Claflin and Woodhull took their seats， heads held high. As the charges were read out， Victoria was said to look “grave and severe， never smiling and listening with apparent painful interest.”

The charge against them would be contested on the grounds of the first amendment—the right to free speech. The renowned advocate William Howe led the defence team. The prosecutor Noah Davis requested holding the sisters on a $10，000 bond， citing the gravity of their offences， not only against the obscenity law but also in the libelling of a leading citizen of good reputation. But the recorded charge was not libel. Beecher never refuted17） the story. Mark Twain would later call Beechers silence “a hundred-fold more of an obscene publication than that of the Woodhulls，” adding that he felt sure the nation would eventually realise that “there is fire somewhere in all this smoke of scandal.”

The judge ordered a bond of $8，000 and committed Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin in lieu of18） bail to the Ludlow Street jail， with a hearing on the case scheduled for two days later.

When the sisters arrived， the warden received them as if they were coming for tea， and graciously ushered them into his office. Inside the wardens office， the sisters met with Howe. He had formulated a plea that there was no basis for an obscenity charge because everything in the Weekly articles could be found in Shakespeare or the Bible.

19 November 1872， candidate Woodhull went back to the hearing room at the circuit court with her sister. When they arrived， they learned that a federal grand jury had already met and indicted19） them. They were remanded back into custody.

Woodhulls eventual share of the popular vote20） is undocumented （possibly because some of the polling stations discarded any ballot papers that favored her） but we know that she did not carry any states， and therefore won no electoral votes. Grant easily won a second term by a large margin.

The sisters were released on bail a month after their arrest， and exonerated21） of obscenity charges the following June， when the judge ruled that existing obscenity legislation did not apply to newspapers. But Woodhulls American career was over. She eventually emigrated to England. Woodhull ended her long and colourful life in 1927. A year later， British women won the right to vote.

The Pioneer of Womens Rights

History has reduced Woodhull to a footnote—a curiosity more than a contender—but， despite her penchant for melodrama， she was correct about her contribution： She set a vital precedent.

Thousands of Woodhulls suffragette sisters continued to fight against political bigotry. Finally， 136 years after Woodhulls arrest， we may soon see Hillary Clinton carry her baton forward into the White House.

As night fell on election day in 1872， Woodhull closed her campaign—from prison—with a prophetic letter to the editor of the New York Herald， which showed that she was very well aware of what she had begun：

To the public I would say in conclusion they may succeed in crushing me out， even to the loss of my life： But let me warn them and you that from the ashes of my body a thousand Victorias will spring to avenge my death by seizing the work laid down by me and carrying it forward to victory.

現(xiàn)在美國(guó)大選正如火如荼，希拉里有可能創(chuàng)造歷史，成為美國(guó)第一位女總統(tǒng)。四個(gè)月前，獲得民主黨提名，成為首位代表主要政黨角逐總統(tǒng)的女性時(shí)，希拉里表示要“在玻璃天花板上制造一條迄今為止最大的裂縫”。而在“最高玻璃天花板”制造裂縫的第一人其實(shí)是136年前的維多利亞·伍德胡爾。在美國(guó)女性還沒(méi)有獲得選舉權(quán)的當(dāng)時(shí)，她因競(jìng)選而遭遇了重重磨難，雖然最終競(jìng)選失敗，但她無(wú)疑創(chuàng)造了傳奇。

1872年11月2日，美國(guó)全體選民投票選舉第19任總統(tǒng)的三天前，其中一位總統(tǒng)候選人被逮捕。兩名聯(lián)邦副法警——科爾法克斯和伯納德——一早出現(xiàn)在百老匯大街，來(lái)到48號(hào)一間毫無(wú)特色的門店前喊了幾聲。這家店在紐約證券交易所氣派的門面的拐角處。那里不是他們通常巡邏的地方，但他們卻在這個(gè)寒冷刺骨的早上，沿著華爾街過(guò)來(lái)，為的是逮捕一個(gè)女人。這個(gè)女人既不是妓女也不是盜賊——除非你相信某些報(bào)紙的言論。她既不是毒殺親夫的妻子也不是扒手，而是一位有影響力的女性。對(duì)于一名女性來(lái)說(shuō)，參與競(jìng)選總統(tǒng)無(wú)疑是個(gè)荒唐的想法，但你不得不欽佩她的魄力。

這兩個(gè)副法警來(lái)得很及時(shí)。就在他們敲門時(shí)一輛馬車疾馳而過(guò)，但他們能夠看到乘客就是他們要逮捕的女士，之后就展開了追捕。他們攔下馬車，出具逮捕令，逮捕的理由是她被指控通過(guò)郵件寄送淫穢出版物。馬車?yán)锶麧M了成堆的報(bào)紙，上面寫著這樣的口號(hào)：要進(jìn)步！要思想自由！要生活自由！據(jù)報(bào)道，面對(duì)逮捕，嫌疑犯維多利亞·伍德胡爾鎮(zhèn)定而冷靜。她和同乘一輛馬車的妹妹田納西（蒂妮）·克拉夫林一起被帶走了。

希拉里·克林頓正式成為第一位獲得主要政黨總統(tǒng)候選人提名的女性時(shí)，她將在費(fèi)城創(chuàng)造歷史（編注：本文發(fā)表于2016年7月20日）。但她并不是首位被提名為總統(tǒng)候選人的女性，第一位是維多利亞·克拉夫林·伍德胡爾。1872年，她成了第三黨派的總統(tǒng)候選人，與在職的共和黨總統(tǒng)尤利西斯·辛普森·格蘭特將軍和他的民主黨競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手——紐約出版商霍勒斯·格里利一同競(jìng)選。她無(wú)法為自己投票——50年后美國(guó)女性才獲得了此項(xiàng)權(quán)利——但這并沒(méi)阻止這位具有開創(chuàng)精神的女權(quán)主義者為改變現(xiàn)狀而做出的歷史性努力。

總統(tǒng)競(jìng)選之旅

1871年，伍德胡爾開始了競(jìng)選總統(tǒng)之旅。當(dāng)時(shí)她被邀請(qǐng)到華盛頓向眾議院司法委員會(huì)發(fā)表演講。面對(duì)全體委員，伍德胡爾發(fā)表了大膽的聲明：“法律面前男女平等，男女享有平等權(quán)利?！蔽瘑T會(huì)拒絕同意她的觀點(diǎn)，但伍德胡爾的表現(xiàn)引起了全國(guó)關(guān)注。

伍德胡爾以威脅的口吻結(jié)束了她的演講：“如果國(guó)會(huì)拒絕聆聽(tīng)（女性的聲音）、拒絕女性的要求，那女性就只剩下一條道路去追求——要成為未來(lái)政府的母親。除此之外，女性還能做什么？”

國(guó)會(huì)一步也不退讓。因此，1872年5月9日，全國(guó)婦女選舉權(quán)協(xié)會(huì)成立了一個(gè)分支——平權(quán)黨。黨員們推舉伍德胡爾競(jìng)選總統(tǒng)。是時(shí)候采取引人注目的新策略了：提名伍德胡爾象征著一種抗議，打響了抗議的第一槍，之后還會(huì)有許多這樣的抗議行動(dòng)。

伍德胡爾的總統(tǒng)競(jìng)選活動(dòng)綱領(lǐng)非常超前，其首要主張是婦女選舉權(quán)，同時(shí)也公開支持自由戀愛(ài)及結(jié)束婚姻中的“奴隸制”。她贊成工人的權(quán)利、工會(huì)制度、男女同酬及全民醫(yī)療保障。在某種程度上，她更像比爾·克林頓而非希拉里·克林頓：她擅長(zhǎng)公眾演講，甚至她的詆毀者都稱贊她是位有魅力的競(jìng)選者。

她的行動(dòng)號(hào)召發(fā)表在了《伍德胡爾和克拉夫林周刊》上。她和妹妹在紐約共同經(jīng)營(yíng)了這份報(bào)紙六年。她的戰(zhàn)斗口號(hào)——我們主張，相對(duì)頂層少數(shù)人，數(shù)百萬(wàn)底層人也應(yīng)享有權(quán)利！”——一百多年以后，在占領(lǐng)華爾街運(yùn)動(dòng)的標(biāo)語(yǔ)中仍能找到回應(yīng)。

維多利亞·伍德胡爾的個(gè)人情況受到了密切的關(guān)注和評(píng)判，那種程度是男性候選人不曾經(jīng)受的。媒體上一片喧嘩。對(duì)伍德胡爾競(jìng)選活動(dòng)的報(bào)道總是離不開對(duì)她服飾的評(píng)論。從此以后對(duì)女性政客的報(bào)道都是如此。伍德胡爾的衣著風(fēng)格備受批評(píng)，包括她特別喜歡穿短裙，就是到腳踝的那種。相比之下，很少有人談?wù)撍哪挲g。事實(shí)上，她才34歲，嚴(yán)格來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)年齡沒(méi)有資格成為總統(tǒng)，因?yàn)閼椃ㄒ?guī)定最低年齡為35歲。

對(duì)她批評(píng)最激烈的人中有部分是女性，她們擔(dān)心她標(biāo)新立異的生活方式會(huì)減弱女權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)的嚴(yán)肅性。哈麗葉特·比切·斯托就是其中一位。斯托夫人在1852年出版的廢奴小說(shuō)《湯姆叔叔的小屋》是那個(gè)世紀(jì)的暢銷書。她1871年出版的小說(shuō)《我妻子和我》設(shè)定了一個(gè)主人公，名叫奧達(dá)西亞·丹吉艾爾。奧達(dá)西亞競(jìng)選總統(tǒng)時(shí)，這位女主人公非常贊同她父親對(duì)她的評(píng)價(jià)：

“只要是一位不愿意被拉進(jìn)狗屋、不愿像舊拖把一樣被拖進(jìn)臟水桶里的女人就不會(huì)同意作為候選人去競(jìng)選……能夠忍受這個(gè)的女人又會(huì)是怎樣一個(gè)厚顏無(wú)恥的蕩婦呢？難道我們想看到任何一種女人領(lǐng)導(dǎo)我們的政府么？”

不過(guò)，伍德胡爾最狂熱的反對(duì)者是長(zhǎng)著絡(luò)腮胡的改革家安東尼·康斯托克，一位美國(guó)郵政檢查員。他制定了一個(gè)計(jì)劃，阻止這個(gè)首位女性候選人的競(jìng)選活動(dòng)進(jìn)展并詆毀她的名聲，以此來(lái)提升自己的職業(yè)生涯。

走向失敗

1872年11月2日，選舉日三天前，伍德胡爾和妹妹蒂妮做了個(gè)戰(zhàn)略性決定，卻導(dǎo)致了她們的失敗。她們?cè)凇段榈潞鸂柡涂死蛄种芸返奶乜习l(fā)表了兩篇具有煽動(dòng)性的文章：一篇報(bào)道了社區(qū)的棟梁、著名的廢奴主義者、哈麗葉特·比切·斯托的弟弟、紐約市牧師亨利·沃德·比切和一位他的長(zhǎng)期支持者的妻子發(fā)生了婚外情;另一篇?jiǎng)t揭露了著名股票經(jīng)紀(jì)人、華爾街大鱷盧瑟·查利斯誘奸了兩位年輕女孩。

這兩篇駭人聽(tīng)聞的文章讓康斯托克輕易地找到了把柄，借此鞏固了自己的聲譽(yù)，并討好了支持他反對(duì)淫穢作品的捐款者們。在中間人的幫助下，他通過(guò)郵局訂了幾份周刊，以便依據(jù)法律促使當(dāng)局發(fā)出逮捕這對(duì)姐妹的逮捕令。當(dāng)姐妹倆試圖阻止當(dāng)局沒(méi)收惹麻煩的報(bào)紙時(shí)，科爾法克斯和伯納德就逮捕了她們。

姐妹倆被直接帶到巡回法庭，法庭外聚集著大批的民眾。據(jù)一位目擊者稱，民眾“非常激動(dòng)”。法庭內(nèi)，克拉夫林和伍德胡爾坐在各自的座位上，昂首挺胸。宣讀指控時(shí)，據(jù)說(shuō)維多利亞看起來(lái)“嚴(yán)肅而沉著，沒(méi)有一絲微笑，臉上明顯帶著痛苦卻又關(guān)注的神情聽(tīng)著”。

圍繞對(duì)她們的指控，雙方根據(jù)憲法第一修正案——言論自由權(quán)——進(jìn)行了辯論。知名律師威廉·豪帶領(lǐng)被告辯護(hù)團(tuán)隊(duì)。檢察官諾亞·戴維斯要求拘押兩姐妹，保釋金為一萬(wàn)美元，理由是她們罪行嚴(yán)重，不僅違反了反淫穢法，而且詆毀有影響力和良好聲譽(yù)的公民。但記錄在案的指控并不是誹謗罪。比切從未否認(rèn)過(guò)那段情史。后來(lái)，馬克·吐溫稱比切的緘默“比伍德胡爾姐妹的文章要淫穢一百多倍”。他還說(shuō)，他確信國(guó)家最終會(huì)意識(shí)到“所有的丑聞都有其原因”。

法官規(guī)定保釋金為8，000美元，然后把維多利亞·伍德胡爾和田納西·克拉夫林關(guān)押在勒德洛街監(jiān)獄，允許保釋，并計(jì)劃兩天后聽(tīng)審此案。

兩姐妹到達(dá)時(shí)，監(jiān)獄長(zhǎng)接待了她們，就好像她們是來(lái)喝茶一樣，彬彬有禮地把她們帶到了自己的辦公室。在辦公室里，兩姐妹見(jiàn)到了豪。他已經(jīng)起草了一份申訴，聲稱周刊文章里的內(nèi)容都能在莎士比亞的作品或《圣經(jīng)》里找到，因此，反淫穢罪的指控是毫無(wú)根據(jù)的。

1872年11月19日，總統(tǒng)候選人伍德胡爾和她的妹妹回到了巡回法院的法庭。到那里后，她們了解到聯(lián)邦法庭陪審團(tuán)已碰面并起訴她們。她們又被關(guān)押候?qū)徚恕?/p>

伍德胡爾最終獲得了多少普選票并無(wú)文件記載（也許因?yàn)橐恍┩镀闭景淹督o她的選票全扔了），但我們知道她沒(méi)有贏下一個(gè)州，因此也沒(méi)有贏得任何選舉人的選票。格蘭特以壓倒性票數(shù)輕松獲得連任。

被捕一個(gè)月后，兩姐妹獲得保釋。在之后的6月份，兩人被免除了淫穢罪，當(dāng)時(shí)法官裁定現(xiàn)行的反淫穢法不適用于報(bào)業(yè)。但伍德胡爾在美國(guó)的事業(yè)就此結(jié)束。最終，她移居到英國(guó)。1927年，伍德胡爾結(jié)束了自己漫長(zhǎng)而多彩的一生。一年后，英國(guó)女性贏得了投票權(quán)。

爭(zhēng)取女性權(quán)利的先驅(qū)

歷史對(duì)伍德胡爾的記錄少之又少，她更多地被看成一位奇人而不是一位總統(tǒng)競(jìng)選人——盡管她喜歡戲劇性事件，但她對(duì)自己貢獻(xiàn)的評(píng)價(jià)是正確的：她開創(chuàng)了重要的先例。

成千上萬(wàn)與伍德胡爾一樣爭(zhēng)取婦女參政權(quán)的姐妹們從未停止過(guò)反抗政治偏見(jiàn)。最終，伍德胡爾被捕136年之后，我們也許很快就會(huì)看到希拉里·克林頓拿著她的接力棒進(jìn)入白宮。

1872年選舉日當(dāng)晚，伍德胡爾在監(jiān)獄里結(jié)束了自己的競(jìng)選。她給《紐約先驅(qū)報(bào)》的主編寫了一封頗有預(yù)見(jiàn)性的信，表明她非常清楚自己開創(chuàng)的事業(yè)：

對(duì)于公眾，我最后要說(shuō)，也許他們成功地打敗了我，甚至讓我失去了生命。但我要警告他們，還有你，從我之后會(huì)出現(xiàn)成千上萬(wàn)的維多利亞，為我的死報(bào)仇，繼續(xù)我開創(chuàng)的事業(yè)，走向勝利。