Alice Paul has long been an elusive figure in the political history of American women. This biography of Paul's early years and suffrage leadership offers fresh insight into her private persona and public image. Here, for the first time, the authors examine the sources of Paul's ambition and the growth of her political consciousness. They substantially revise our understanding about Paul's engagement with suffrage activism and later emergence onto the American scene. Paul's Quaker upbringing, long seen as the spark for her commitment to women's rights, is shown here as necessary, but not sufficient to motivate her later devotion to the equality of women. However, her childhood among the Friends did forge crucial aspects of Paul's selfhood. Her political zeal developed out of years of education and exploration, notably her involvement with the infamous British suffragists, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. The authors demonstrate how Paul's work for the Pankhursts honed her instincts and skills. They identify Paul's sense of historical moment as vital to her embrace of a leadership role, a decision which largely subsumed her private with her public life. As a leader, Alice Paul wedded courage, resourcefulness and self-mastery. In 1913, she reinvigorated the American campaign for a constitutional suffrage amendment by capturing the suffrage narrative and, in the next seven years, dominated that campaign and drove it to victory with bold, controversial action. The book analyzes Paul's charisma and leadership qualities, highlighting her dealings with her most important political adversaries, Woodrow Wilson and rival suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt. Paul's leadership style both energized and frustrated allies and opponents, as well as historians. This biography applies new research to the persistent questions about Alice Paul and her legacy.

About the Author
J.D. Zahniser Historian, American Institute for History Education with Amelia R. Fry (deceased) Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Reviews
Much has been written on Alice Paul, but this long-awaited and fascinating new biography based on years of research by Amelia Fry and years more by J. D. Zahniser, takes us from Paul's childhood through her years in England to the victory for woman suffrage in 1920 and accomplishes what the intensely private suffrage leader deliberately made difficult, introducing us to the fascinating individual behind the public image. * Marjorie J. Spruill, Professor of History, University of South Carolina *
Alice Paul: Claiming Power is an exhaustively researched and meticulously crafted work. Using previously untapped original sources, it is undoubtedly the definitive biography of Paul during the suffrage era. This book elevates Paul to the position she should command as one of the consummate political masters of the twentieth century. Paul's leadership genius made the suffrage movement one of the two most successful 'rights' movements in the nation's history-one that claimed political power for more than half the population in a bloodless political revolution. * Edith P. Mayo, Curator Emeritus of Political History, Smithsonian Institution *
The elegantly constructed narrative combines the filaments of Paul's precocious life into an incisive tale.... This is not only the story of one person, but of her epoch and culture. Zahniser and Fry have done readers a profound service. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *
[A] carefully researched biography. * Louis Menand, The New Yorker *
[A] history of women's 72-year struggle to attain the vote... Highly recommended. * CHOICE *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199958429
Author J.D. Zahniser
Format Hardback
Page Count 410
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 658g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 236mm * 33mm