Remember When: Two Women. Two Stars. 195 Years in the Making.

They had already served their country for decades before anyone thought to give them a star.

On June 11, 1970, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington stood in a ceremony that had never happened before in the 195-year history of the United States Army. Both women were promoted to Brigadier General — the first in American history to achieve the rank of general officer in any branch of the U.S. military. Because promotions were processed alphabetically, Hays received her star just minutes before Hoisington, making her the first female general in U.S. history. Army Chief of Staff General William Westmoreland pinned Hoisington's star — then kissed her on the cheek. The photo ran in papers across the country. The nation's top military officer had just made history. He marked it with a kiss.

Hays had spent 27 years in the Army Nurse Corps, serving in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam — working in field hospitals close enough to the front lines to hear the artillery. Hoisington had commanded the Women's Army Corps, which at its peak mobilized over 100,000 women in service to their country. The rank was not a gift. It was overdue.

For decades, federal law had made it impossible — explicitly capping the highest rank a woman could hold at Colonel. It wasn't until November 1967, when President Johnson signed Public Law 90-130, that the ceiling was finally removed. Hays and Hoisington still had to wait three more years.

That pattern has not disappeared. Women still fight for the rank, the title, the seat at the table that their record has already earned them. The uniform changes. The resistance rarely does.

Leading Ladies Vote believes the work of these women was never just military. It was democratic. Representation in every institution — from the Pentagon to the Senate floor — is how we build a country that works for everyone.

Credit: Time Magazine