Not too many women have been close enough to run for the presidency. Geraldine Ferraro ran for Vice President on Walter Mondale's ticket, but Mondale had an extremely weak showing and probably would've lost in a landslide regardless of his running mate.. . Most presidential candidates run after having served as governor, senator, or vice president. Dwight Eisenhower, elected in 1952, was the last nominee of a major party not to have previously held one of these offices.. . There have been 28 female governors in the history of the United States, including Sila Calderon of PR. 6 of these were appointees who were never elected, 3 others were elected as replacements for their husbands who had previously served as that state's governor.. . There have been 33 female Senators in US history, 10 of which were appointees never elected.. . I don't believe that there is much specific bias against women in politics, but most women just aren't seen as presidantial candidate material. Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) ran for president in 2004, and American Red Cross president Elizabeth Dole ran for the Republican nomination in 2000. Dole garned a good deal of interest early on, but neither candidate ended up being at all competitive.. . Right now Hillary Clinton and Condoleeze Rice are frequently mentioned as possible presidential candidates, although I suspect that Clinton is viewed negatively by too many voters, and I think that voters would be very reluctant to promote the Secretary of Defense to the highest office in the land until a bit more is known about the candidate's domestic policies.