Patsy Takamoto Mink, Democratic Party, 1972

Patsy Takamoto Mink had a lot of obstacles to overcome when she ran for junior high school student body president in the early years of WWII. The first girl to run for the office, she was also up against a rising tide of anti Japanese-American sentiment in her hometown of Maui. Ever the diplomat, she built a coalition amongst the student body, and even won over the football team. This was the auspicious and revealing beginning of her long career in politics.

By 1956, Mink, the first Asian-American woman to practice law in Hawaii, was elected to the territorial House of Representatives. 1965 marked the first of 6 terms she would serve in the US House of Representatives. The first woman of color to be elected to Congress, she campaigned to represent the Democratic Party in the 1972 Presidential race. She was not successful in that endeavor, but she was the first Asian-American to make a bid for the highest office. Perhaps her most important legacy is Title IX legislation, which ensuures women's equal access to education.