The book, authored by Tina Cassidy, has two story lines – one of a determined Alice Paul and an intransigent President whose gender and racially biased ideas were shaped (and shifted) over a lifetime, first as a Southerner and later as the president of Princeton. It’s an inspiring story of the hard-fought struggle which culminated in June 1919 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

MR. PRESIDENT, HOW LONG MUST WE WAIT? by Tina Cassidy is a work of non-fiction which cleverly describes the historic actions of Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson and the subsequent adoption of the 19th Amendment, an event whose centenary we will soon be celebrating. The cover employs suffragette colors and emphasizes the conflicting views of Paul, who was arrested several times and went on a hunger strike in support of votes for women, and of Wilson, born in the South and who once wrote, "universal suffrage is at the foundation of every evil in this country." MR. PRESIDENT, HOW LONG MUST WE WAIT? chronicles a struggle that, according to author Cassidy, "served as a model for how to create a movement through protests and grassroots activism for the rest of the century and into the next." Cassidy was recorded at the US National Archives speaking about her book and its relevance today with themes of "patriotism, racism, the right way to protest, the slow pace of change, a divided women's movement, and righting the wrongs of inequality." This is a fascinating text (for example, how many know that Alice Paul also worked on drafting the Equal Rights Amendment?) and readers can sample an excerpt at the link below. Our American Studies teachers are considering MR. PRESIDENT, HOW LONG MUST WE WAIT? as a required summer read. It is definitely a well-researched and accessible text with footnotes, an extensive bibliography and helpful index.

Links in live post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60p6cH0UoGQ
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Mr-President-How-Long-Must-We-Wait/Tina-Cassidy/9781501177767

This book is what I want to put into the hands of all my female friends who don't believe their votes matter. This is a fascinating book on the lengths women went to gain the vote, as well as the indifference and lack of understanding that still weaves through our modern culture in the USA. This book was fantastic!

Very interesting look at the final stage of the suffrage movement in the United States, and one of the best accounts of the activities of Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party (NWP) during that time in recent memory. The ebb and flow of violence against suffragists from both bystanders and law enforcement is s forgotten part of the fight for women's rights, and Cassidy draws a memorable portrait of the period.