The most influential woman in the Truman Administration: India Edwards, 1944 to 1953.

Abstract

The extent of women's involvement in politics in the early post-World War II era has often been minimized, and the gender issues they faced are rarely acknowledged. Although many women returned to domestic roles after the war, many fought the gender related social and political inequalities in society. One of the most successful was India Edwards, head of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. She convinced President Harry S. Truman to appoint more women to government and political posts than any proceeding president, and also encouraged women to take active roles in politics both at the ballot box and in the Democratic Party. This thesis focuses on the significance of India Edwards during the Truman administration and examines her success in advancing the status of women. Also, this biography investigates those ideas about women's roles in society and politics that influenced Edwards' service in the Women's Division. Although the twentieth century women's rights movement was in a lull, India Edwards worked to expand the influence of women in government. Her efforts within the Democratic National Committee, however, did not go unchallenged by male colleagues. In 1953, she was compelled to resign as head of the Women's Division, which marked both her greatest defeat and the end of an era for Democratic committee women. Thereafter, committee women lacked the power or effectiveness that India Edwards had commanded. Women activists in the mid-1960s, therefore, adopted more radical tactics than those moderate strategies India Edwards had effectively employed to women's causes in an era that was essentially indifferent to women's causes.