The American Revolution, World War I and II, Watergate. These events in history are all significant and have left a mark on our world. However there is one thing they share that may not be so obvious at first: all three people mentioned are women.
Despite the fact that these women were capable of shaping the course of American History, the public perception ranged from tepid to downright negative for most of their lives.
The legendary Paul Revere is regarded as one of the most important figures in American history. He is famous for his midnight ride in April 1775 warning the colonial militias that British troops were about to attack and telling them to “turn out.” The colonists won the ensuing battle of Lexington and Concord, launching them into a full scale revolution from which they would eventually emerge victorious.
This heroic figure is also known for having his name forever associated with one of America’s most cherished traditions: the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Whether he actually made it on horseback to deliver warning to rebel militiamen or not is irrelevant. What is important is that he rode at all, which makes him a historical pioneer and a model for any future patriots who might be intimidated by the thought of making the journey on foot.
Despite these important achievements, Paul Revere’s reputation was tarnished by some unfortunate events that took place during his lifetime. In 1771 Revere was convicted on a falsified charge of arson against his own business and forced to pay a fine of £200 and eighteen months in prison. The stinginess of this so-called penalty even convinced many people that he must have been guilty in the first place. The public perception ended up being that Revere was an unprincipled individual who did not take his civic duty very seriously. As a result of this scandal, Paul Revere spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name.
Additionally, Revere’s inability to keep his mouth shut often got him into trouble. He was constantly warning people about the “Redcoats” and how they must be prepared to fight for their freedom or risk losing it forever. Even though he was one of the architects who designed the defensive weapons used in the revolutionary war: mortars, cannons and rifles, people resented being reminded by him that they might actually have to fight for something real and bloody since it was not every day that colonial militias had an opportunity to use such weapons on their own terms.
When he died, Revere was buried in an unmarked grave and his family was forced to make a public apology in order to secure their own good names. His reputation as one of America’s most important patriots did not come into question until the mid-20th century, when American history became a topic of interest for a wider audience.
Eloise Anderson Hoover was born in 1895 and spent most of her life growing up in Washington D.C. She would have been unremarkable if it weren’t for the fact that she attended some important political meetings during the years leading up to the Great Depression and passed detailed accounts of them on to her husband J. Edgar Hoover, who was then in the Justice Department.
Mrs. Hoover’s reports eventually ended up on the desks of President Herbert Hoover and his administration, who were able to act upon them in a way that allowed them to prevent any further economic collapse and even end up winning re-election over Al Smith.
President Hoover’s gratitude for Mrs. Hoover’s input eventually resulted in him appointing her husband as head of the FBI, making her perhaps the only person ever to have been awarded an executive position at the age of twenty-six through marriage. Following this feat, J. Edgar Hoover became one of America’s most powerful insiders for the next forty years, despite never having served a single day in public office or military service.
