Why did the Equal Rights Party choose Victoria Woodhull as its candidate for president in 1872?

One of the main causes of the Equal Rights Party was women's suffrage. Victoria Woodhull was a flamboyant and outspoken proponent of equal rights for women, blacks, the poor and all kinds of minority groups. She and her sister, Tennessee Claflin, were the first women to own a brokerage firm on Wall St., and they owned and operated a newspaper called Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly. The newspaper later became the first one to publish Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel's "Communist Manifesto" in English.

When she was nominated for president, rumors began to circulate about her personal life, claiming that she was having affairs with married men and that she was a witch. She thought that the Beecher family was behind the rumors and approached patriarch Rev. Henry Ward Beecher to have him put an end to the rumors. Beecher attacked her even more viciously. In retaliation, Woodhull printed in her newspaper an article about the affair that was taking place between Rev. Beecher and the wife of his best friend, Lib Tilton. He denied the affair and Woodhull was arrested and spent some time (including Election Day of that year) in jail for "sending obscene material through the mail" (the article was considered obscene material).

The government supported Beecher, as did most of the press. But Beecher's friend, Theodore Tilton, eventually began to believe Woodhull and he sured Beecher for alienation of his wife's affection. Woodhull was eventually acquitted, but her name and reputation were ruined and she was completely bankrupt.

She and her sister made their way to England, where they both married wealthy men and became philanthropists.

First answer by Dianergr. Last edit by Dianergr. Contributor trust: 169 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 1 [recommend question]