Elizabeth Cady-Stanton’s ability to lead stemmed primarily from her perseverance. As a historical figure Cady-Stanton was revolutionary, however, in her time she was viewed as a radical. She was called a heretic. One paper referred to her as a “pestiferous fanatic” (Ward & Burns, 1999, p. 97). None of the criticism she received caused her to falter in her beliefs. She felt that is was her responsibility to fight for women’s rights.

Elizabeth Cady-Stanton also had charisma. She knew how to have people listen to her. Coupled with her ability to write speeches that persuaded hundreds to her way of thinking she was a born orator. Cady-Stanton would be seen as having the strength to woo.

One of the most significant leaderships qualities Cady-Stanton exhibited was her ability to judge people. She surrounded herself with like-minded people. The people that shared Cady-Stanton’s cause believed in her vision and were inspired by her. They, however, did not follow blindly. Women like Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony traveled the country and even the world with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but often found her ideas to be too radical. Cady-Stanton even said “…As all women are supposed to be under the thumb of a man, I prefer a tyrant of my own sex, so I shall not deny the patent fact of my subjection; for I do believe that I have developed into much more of a women under Susan’s jurisdiction”(Ward & Burns, 1999, p. 200).

Ultimately, it was Elizabeth Cady-Stanton’s vision that made her a leader. She had the ability to see a different way of life for women. She started with the idea that inequality was not acceptable and fought her whole life to change it.

There was no turning point or significant moment for Elizabeth Cady-Stanton, she was born with her ideals. She often referenced a comment her father made to her; “I wish you were a boy” (Ward & Burns, 1999, p. 12); Mr. Cady at the time was actually commenting on the insightful nature of his daughter and felt disappointed for her that her intelligence could never develop into a real career as a mans could. Also, as a child Elizabeth Cady-Stanton remembered family and friends visiting her mother after the birth of her younger sister, Catherine. “What a pity it is she is a girl!”(Ward & Burns, 1999, p. 97) she had heard people say.

One other major childhood moment, that Cady-Stanton often pointed to as important to her development as an activist, was a meeting between her father and a client. Cady-Stanton’s father was a lawyer who a female client visited one day. Elizabeth Cady overheard that the woman’s husband had sold her farm, an inheritance she had received. As a result she and her children no longer had a place to live. Mr. Cady explained that she had no legal recourse; as a wife she had no rights. When Elizabeth Cady spoke to her father about how wrong she felt the woman’s situation was he advised, “You must go to Albany and talk to the legislators…and see if you can persuade them to pass new laws” (Ward & Burns, 1999, p. 14).

Later in life, Elizabeth Cady-Stanton took her father’s advice she fought to change laws. She failed more times than she won. But she never stopped fighting.

“We shall some day be heeded, and …everybody will think it was always so, just exactly as many young people think that all the privileges, all the freedom, all the enjoyments which woman now processes always were hers. They have no idea of how every single inch of ground that she stands upon today has been gained by the hard work of some little handful of women of the past.” (Ward & Burns, 1999, p. 202)
- Elizabeth Cady-Stanton