It might be a lack of self-awareness, or confidence that no one would notice. The Washington Post reports
President Obama paid homage Tuesday to those who had fought for women's equality, designating a historic house on Capitol Hill a national monument, and hinting that his successor could represent yet another victory for women's rights.
Speaking at the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, which has housed the National Woman's Party since 1929 and will now be called the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, the president called the site "a hotbed of activism, a centerpiece for the struggle for equality, a monument to a fight not just for women's equality but, ultimately, for equality for everybody."
"I have faith because what this house shows us is that the story of America is a story of progress," Obama said before a crowd of women's activists that included tennis legend Billie Jean King and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.).
"I want young girls and boys to come here, 10, 20, 100 years from now, to know that women fought for equality, it was not just given to them," he said. "I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women earned less than men for doing the same work. I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women were vastly outnumbered in the boardroom or in Congress, that there was ever a time when a woman had never sat in the Oval Office."
He wants them to be "astonished" there was "ever a time when a woman had never sat in the Oval Office." In fairness, it was a long time before there was even a serious bid for the White House by a woman (Carly Fiorina, Hillary Clinton) in either major political party. It was not until this year that a woman had a legitimate shot at either the Democratic or the Republican nomination. Oh, wait- there was that moment in 2008 when Hillary Clinton ran against.... Barack Obama!
He must have forgotten.
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