Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Time finally arrives for female president

IslandPacket newsroom@islandpacket.com
Hilton Head IslandHistory will record that in 2016, the United States of America elected its first woman president. Is that so surprising? Not really. Women represent 51 percent of the U.S. population and, with a united vote, they could elect the woman of their choosing regardless of the male vote.

It has taken time for women to be taken seriously. Our Constitution was adopted in 1787, but it took another 133 years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Now, another 96 years later, they can really make it count.

Tradition has it that Great Britain's first prime minister came into power in 1721. It only took them 258 years to elect the first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, in 1979.

George Washington became our first president in 1789. Only 227 years later, history has given us two choices to be our first woman president -- Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina -- with distinctly contrasting styles, beliefs, philosophies and policy positions. We truly have a choice.

Barack Obama showed in 2008 that the United States was ready to embrace diversity as the first black president. In 2016, the time for a woman is now. God bless our nation and the woman we choose to lead her.

Rick Tranquilli

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 3:04 AM with the headline "Letter: Time finally arrives for female president."

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER