1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. We are coming up on the birthday of 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 1: Victoria Woodhall, who was born on September. She ran for 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: president of the United States before the nineteenth Amendment prohibited 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: denying citizens the right to vote because of their sex. 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: This episode is from It is much requested, and it 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: is from prior hosts Sarah and Deblina Enjoy. Welcome to 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class from how Stuff Works 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Debliina 9 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: Chokoboarding and I'm Sarah Dowdy and we are barreling right 10 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: along through women's history one. So far, we've covered a 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: couple of women of pirate leader and a warrior queen, 12 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: for example, who both made a name for themselves by 13 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: fighting against the establishment. In this episode, however, we're going 14 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: to take a at one who sought to become part 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: of the establishment and kind of effect change from within, 16 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: kind of the biggest part of the establishment exactly. And um, 17 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: by that, we mean we're about to talk about Victoria Woodhull, 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: the first woman to run for president of the United States. Yeah, 19 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: and her bid for the presidency was really remarkable. And 20 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: that's not just because it happened almost fifty years before 21 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: women even had the right to vote, the legal right 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: to vote. It was miraculous because she had this really 23 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: sketchy pass. She basically came out of nowhere. Uh, the 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: previous entry on her resume before presidential candidate was clairvoyant. 25 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: That's something you're unlikely to see to make and um, 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: in a couple of years, she became the leading voice 27 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: in the women's rights movement. So a remarkable biography. Yeah, 28 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: you could probably do an entire series on just all 29 00:01:54,600 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: the details of her really unconventional and turbulent sometimes cookie 30 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: downright cookie life, but we're mostly going to focus on 31 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: the meteoric rise that led to her nomination for president 32 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: and of course the scandal that caused it all to 33 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: go horribly wrong. And you'll see that it really makes 34 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: today's nominees for the most part, not in all cases, 35 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: but for the most part, look pretty tame bland. Yeah, 36 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: certainly their names, the names in this podcast are going 37 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: to be great. I just I want to get you 38 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: psycked up for that everyone. And you know, by saying 39 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: that she's exciting, we're not just talking about in terms 40 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: of the scandal. Even her background is really fascinating and unique. 41 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: So we'll get into that a little bit at first. 42 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:43,399 Speaker 1: She was born Victoria Claughlin on September eight in Homer, Ohio, 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: and her mom, Annie Claughlin, named her after the then 44 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: eighteen year old Queen of England, so she keeps popping 45 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: up Victoria. So Victoria Claughlin was the fifth of seven 46 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: living kids, and while she was growing up, her family 47 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: had a lot of financial struggle. Um, she didn't really 48 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: let that get to her though. She was still a 49 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,959 Speaker 1: very confident kid and she kind of held court on 50 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: this with her family, telling stories to the other kids. 51 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: And she was really smart. She had a photographic memory. 52 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: And there, you know, we we should mention too because 53 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: this comes into play later that her intelligence was not 54 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: educated intelligence. She she only went to school from ages 55 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: eight to eleven. She was just a a smart, quick 56 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: learning kid. Yeah, and that's all. That's all the school 57 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: and she had the opportunity to get at the time, 58 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: we should say. But she was nicknamed Little Queen because 59 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: of her proud demeanor and her she would intensely concentrate 60 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: on things, So people thought that was very queen like, 61 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: just like Madame de Pompadour, very similar her dad. But 62 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: Claughlin was kind of a rascal who just hopped from 63 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: job to job. I think he had something like a 64 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: dozen jobs. But eventually his grand get rich scheme was 65 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: to start calling two of his daughters, Victoria and Tennessee 66 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: spiritual mediums and set them up as this traveling spiritualist 67 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: medicine show, which sounds like a really off the wall idea, 68 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: but it wasn't quite as out there as it seems 69 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: because Buck had heard about this other pair of sisters 70 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: from New York, Kate and Margaret Fox, and they had 71 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: earned huge amounts of money working as these traveling mediums, 72 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: and there was, you know, at the time, this growing 73 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: interest in spiritualism. I think that's something that comes up 74 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: in the podcast from time to time too. And women 75 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: were very important in that movement, partly because it gave 76 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: them influence. If you're speaking as a medium, nobody is 77 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: really holding you responsible for what you said, not quite 78 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: at least um, so you know, you could get away 79 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 1: with some stuff like a spooky loophole. So in addition 80 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: to this, Victoria had also been known to have religious 81 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: visions of her own from a very young age. In one, 82 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: for example, a young man in a tunic supposedly told 83 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: her quote, one day, you will lead your people. So 84 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: it seems kind of prophetic for what's coming up in 85 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: this podcast. But a lot of historians say that it 86 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: may have just been because her mother was really religious 87 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: that she said she had these visage. We're not and 88 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: we can't be really sure she actually had them or not, 89 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: but kind of the environment she was growing up in, yeah, definitely, 90 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: she might have just been picking up on what she 91 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: had seen, regardless of the motivations and the inspirations, I guess. 92 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: So Victoria and Tennessee did turn a pretty big profit 93 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: for their family doing this, though the girls weren't really 94 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: sure how to approach it at first. They kind of 95 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: went to their dad and they're like, what are we 96 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: supposed to do? And so Buck gave Victoria this advice. 97 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: He said, be a good listener child, and that's kind 98 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: of all he told her. But we'll see that that 99 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: comes into play later. Following that advice, that is, it 100 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: sort of becomes the foundation for some of her later ideas. 101 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: I think it would be awkward if your dad told 102 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: you and your sister to go be mediums, Like, oh, no, 103 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: where to start with that? Exactly, Um, but yeah, you're right. 104 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: It does prove to be a really big foundation to 105 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: her later beliefs, and marriage was another big foundation of 106 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: those later beliefs. And she got married for the first 107 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: time when she was only fifteen years old, to a 108 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,720 Speaker 1: doctor named Kenning Woodhall, and it seemed like a promising 109 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: match at first, except that he turned out to be 110 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: a drunk and Victoria was very unhappy and wanted to 111 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: leave him, but because of Victorians social standards and the 112 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: marriage laws at the time, she was trapped. Her property 113 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: was her husband's and she really couldn't get out, so 114 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: she ended up because Canning was such a drunk and 115 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: also cheated on her, I think, and just basically wasn't 116 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: a great provider at that time. He wasn't a very 117 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: successful doctor even though he was one, he didn't have 118 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: that many patients, so she not too surprising, right, So 119 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,919 Speaker 1: she supported him and her two kids, Byron and Zulu, 120 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: by dressmaking. Then she did a short stint with acting 121 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: when they were living out on the West Coast, and 122 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,479 Speaker 1: then she influentially returned to the family business, which got 123 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: increasingly sketchy as the years got by. Buck actually started 124 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: claiming that Tennessee was a healer who could cure cancer, 125 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: and at one point later on down the road, she 126 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: is charged with manslaughter when a man dies of cancer. 127 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: This is kind of what I meant. Women didn't get 128 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: too much in trouble for what they said as clairvoyance. 129 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: Unless you go say you're going to cure someone's cancer, 130 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: unless you start making medical claims. This is a line 131 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: I guess. So Victoria's role, though, was different from Tennessee's. 132 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: She wasn't out curing cancer. It was more like the 133 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: job of a therapist. Onmost she listened to people's problems, 134 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: often problems about unhappy married life, and uh, hearing enough 135 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: stories convinced her that in some cases divorce was necessary 136 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: and called for. Yeah, and this is combined with her 137 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: own experience, right, So she's had her own unhappy marriage 138 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: and now she's hearing us from other people. So obviously 139 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: that would influence you a little bit. So she's starting 140 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: to change her mind. And this belief actually ends up 141 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: coming in handy when in eighteen sixty four she moves 142 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: to St. Louis and she meets a man by the 143 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: name of Colonel James Henry Blood who's just back from 144 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: the Civil War. He's also into spiritualism, and she likes 145 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: him immediately, not just because they have that in common, 146 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: but he's very attractive and so they hit it off. 147 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: But he comes to see her as a patient and 148 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: she supposedly, this is the story that is told that 149 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: she supposedly goes into a trance and tells him that 150 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: his destiny is to marry her from like a far 151 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: away voice, as if someone else, you will marry me. Um. So, 152 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: of course after that they said they must get married 153 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: even though they're both married. Even though they're both married 154 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: at the time, so they file for divorce and they 155 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: get married eventually in July eighteen sixty six. She does 156 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: keep the name woodhol though, which some find to be scandalous. 157 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: Some people think that because she kept the name, that 158 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: meant that she never really married Blood, but maybe she 159 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: just didn't want to be Victoria Blood. That's true. That's 160 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: a scary night sounding um. But Blood the husband did 161 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,199 Speaker 1: have a really huge influence on Victoria's ideals and further 162 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: shaping them, and he becomes something of a mentor to 163 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: her and exposes her to these radical ideas of the time, 164 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: like birth control and free education and equal rights for women, 165 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: and um it starts to shape her into a new 166 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: person with some pretty new ideas. By the time, Victoria 167 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: and her extended family moved to New York City in 168 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty eight, and this was also at the direction 169 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: of one of her visions. By the way, by that time, 170 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: she's committed to social reform, but she realizes that to 171 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: be a real player in the fight for equality, she 172 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: needs some cash. Most women's rights activists at a time 173 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: came from the upper and middle class, so that was 174 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: the example she had for getting in. Yeah, and that's 175 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: an important thing to keep in mind for some later 176 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 1: issues she runs into. But Victoria and Tennessee sat themselves 177 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: up as clairvoyance in New York City and they have 178 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: business cards and everything. They're like really going for it, 179 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: and they aren't making any claims about medical expertise anymore. 180 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: After that man's letter charge, you know, they've learned better 181 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: than that. And it seems like the business gets off 182 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: to an amazingly lucky start because one of their first 183 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: clients is seventy three year old multi millionaire commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. So, yeah, 184 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: he's the kind of guy who can make your clairvoyant career. Definitely. 185 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: And actually it's very unclear how much this no nonsense 186 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: railroad and shipping tycoon actually believed in the sisters spiritual powers. 187 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: But he liked them in general, and when we got 188 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: down to it, he really just thought they were pretty. 189 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: He liked hanging out with pretty women. So he takes 190 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: to them, and Vanderbilt teaches the sisters about the stock market. 191 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,959 Speaker 1: And I saw a quote in an American Heritage. It 192 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a quote, actually, it was said by John Gordon, 193 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: the writer of this article American Heritage, and he compared 194 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: this to getting stock tips from Warren Buffett. So just 195 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: to give all the listeners out there an example of 196 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: how major this was. This was a pretty significant person 197 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: to be giving you advice. So he gives them tips. 198 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: Colonel Blood invests money for them on their behalf using 199 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: Vanderbilts advice, and suddenly they found themselves with a little 200 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: bit of wealth. Yeah, it pays off pretty quickly. And 201 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: so now that they're secure, Victoria is ready to make 202 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: her debut into this women's rights movement, and she does 203 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: that in January eighteen sixty nine. But she knows that 204 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: her clairvoyant job title is going to hold her back 205 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: a little bit. She can't be or a former and 206 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: a working clairvoyant, or no one will take her seriously. 207 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,679 Speaker 1: So she gives up her old line of work and 208 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: makes starts taking calculated steps to recreate herself again. Her 209 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: first opportunity for reinvention comes by September sixty nine, and 210 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: that happens to be Black Friday on Wall Street when 211 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: the market crashed. Investors began selling off their stocks in 212 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: a panic, and Victoria basically just sat outside the exchange 213 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: and bought up bargains. She supposedly made seven thousand dollars 214 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: by the end of eighteen sixty nine, although some people 215 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: think that she inflated that figure when she reported it. 216 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 1: But she made a lot of money, to say the least. Yeah. 217 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: After that, Victorian Tennessee, they think, Okay, we've had a 218 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: little success. We can probably become major players on Wall Street. 219 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: So they asked for Vanderbilt's backing to open their own 220 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: financial firm, and he shows his support. He gives them 221 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: seven thousand dollars to to do that. It's called Woodhull, 222 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: Claughlin and Company, and the sisters become the first female 223 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: stockbrokers on Wall Street, the first of many firsts for 224 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: at least Victoria, and they got a lot of attention 225 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: because of this, and they had a lot of really 226 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: influential people, and some people came by just to sort 227 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: of check out this company, you know, swing by and 228 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: see what it's all about. Walt Whitman even comes by. 229 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: He says something that sounds very Walt Whitman quote, you 230 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: have given an object lesson to the whole world. You 231 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: are prophecy of the future. There you go, Yes, put 232 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: that on their new business cards. And that's just from doing, 233 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 1: you know, a little walkthrough. Um. So, overall, I think 234 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: they had to rain in that people just walking through 235 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: randomly thing. But business was good. Some people suggest that 236 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: might have been because of Vanderbilt's name being behind it. 237 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: I think people automatically assume that maybe he was pulling 238 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: the strings. But regardless, they did well. Clairvoyant ability, you 239 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 1: never know, that could also be an aspect of it. Um. 240 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: So Victoria starts making some pretty influential friends and eventually 241 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: she enlists one of them, Stephen Pearl Andrews, who was 242 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: very educated, also another reformer, to help her buff up 243 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: her education a little bit, you know, polish her basic 244 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: reading and writing skills and and sort of get a 245 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 1: new start there as well. And so in April eighteen seventy, 246 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: the New York Herald begins to publish this series of 247 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: articles by Victoria, and she really comes out swinging for 248 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: the first one she does. She says, while others of 249 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: my sex devoted themselves to a crusade against the laws 250 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: that shackle the women of the country, I asserted my 251 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: individual independence. While others prayed for the good time coming, 252 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: I worked for it. While others argued the equality of 253 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: woman with man, I proved it by successfully engaging in business, 254 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: while others sought to show that there was no valid 255 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: reason why women should be treated socially and politically as 256 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: being inferior to man. I boldly entered the arena of 257 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: politics and business and exercise the rights I already possessed. 258 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: I therefore claimed the rights to speak for the unenfranchised 259 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: women of the country and announced myself as a candidate 260 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: for the presidency. So there you go. She dropped a 261 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: bomb with that one, definitely so. Ulysses s. Grant was 262 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: in his first term at this time, and most people 263 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: were thinking that he would run again in eight, so 264 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: the Republican nomination was out. She knew that she wouldn't 265 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: get the Democratic nomination, so if she was going to 266 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: run for president, she was going to have to nominate 267 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: herself and get enough support to get her name put 268 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: on the ballot. So that's what she sets out to do, 269 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: and she has pretty creative ways of going about it. 270 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: She does. She launches into this whole series of kind 271 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: of next steps to prepare for her. You can't really 272 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: call it a campaign, I guess, but it sort of 273 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: was an announced and an unannounced campaign a good way 274 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: to put up. So she started by getting this a big, 275 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: fancy house between Madison and Fifth Avenues in New York 276 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: City's Murray Hill district, which was one of the more 277 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: aristocratic neighborhoods. So again we see the whole class issue 278 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: coming up here. She wanted to establish herself as someone 279 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: who was somebody rather than you know, a poor girl 280 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: from Ohio, definitely. And the next thing she does is 281 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: buy a newspaper. Yeah, buying a newspaper meant that you're 282 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: someone really influential. So she does buy one, and she 283 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: calls it wood Hole and Claughland's Weekly, and she sets 284 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: this up as doing a certain number of things. Of course, 285 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: first and foremost, it supports Victoria's c wood Hole for President. 286 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: It's a mixture of mud raking, fads and scandals. For example, 287 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: she publishes in her publication the first English translation in 288 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: the US of the Communist Manifesto, totally bizarro. That was 289 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: one of the things that through me for the biggest 290 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: loop in this episode. I think, yeah, it's sort of 291 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: mentioned as a fact in her life, but seems like 292 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: it should be a very big deal. But I guess 293 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: when we have so many different things going on, it's 294 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: hard to make any one thing that prominent. Yeah, but 295 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: you know. So she is running this newspaper and it's 296 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: not as out there as it seems. It had a 297 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: circulation of toy Ney thousand people by fall eighteen seventies, 298 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,959 Speaker 1: so she has a pretty large audience reading all this 299 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: Victoria Woodhall for President business. But even with all this, 300 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: she knows it's still going to be tough to get 301 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: elected if women can't vote for her, simple enough, right, 302 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: So she moves to Washington and declares herself a lobbyist 303 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: on behalf of women's suffrage. While she's in Washington, she 304 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: befriends a Congressman named Benjamin Butler who helps her kind 305 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: of navigate the political arena. So again another male presence 306 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: who's kind of helping her find her way. Together, they 307 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: decided that women actually didn't need an amendment to vote. 308 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: They already had the right under current laws. This is 309 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: what they kind of formulated in their minds. They found 310 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: in loophole, and the logic behind this was that the 311 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: fifteenth Amendment stated that the rights of citizens of the U. 312 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,360 Speaker 1: S Shall not be denied or abridged. Then the fourteenth 313 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: Amendment said that all persons born are naturalized in the U. S. 314 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: Or citizens. So when you put the two together, it 315 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: means that all citizens have the right to vote. And 316 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: since women are citizens, they have the right to vote too. Yeah. 317 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: So Woodhall, thanks to Butler's influence, actually becomes the first 318 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 1: woman to address Congress on January eleventh, eighteen seventy one, 319 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: and get to make her case with this little loophole 320 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: and and try to see what everybody thinks about it. 321 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: It doesn't really work, but suffer Jets, including Susan B. Anthony, 322 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: were really impressed. I mean, how would you not be 323 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: impressed by the first woman speaking before Congress. Yeah, that's 324 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: a pretty big first. So Victoria was invited finally. She 325 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 1: had wanted this for a while, but because of her 326 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: background and because of her scandalous sort of scandalous newspaper 327 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: that she had, she wasn't invited before. But she was 328 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: finally invited to become part of the National Women's Suffrage Association. 329 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: But it was long before it became clear to the 330 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: others who were members that Victoria wasn't just interested in 331 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: women's rights. She started talking about things like national public education, 332 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: institutionalized welfare for the poor, and perhaps the most controversial 333 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: of things, she talked about free love. Yeah, it's not 334 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:13,199 Speaker 1: quite the free love like what we think of today. Basically, 335 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: she wanted to reform marriage laws and make man and 336 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: wife equal partners in a marriage, a relationship that was 337 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 1: based on love and free will. That's free love. It 338 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: sounds a little more scandalous than it was, but still 339 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,640 Speaker 1: it was something that was pretty radical for a lot 340 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,119 Speaker 1: of the suffragists. A lot of them were not on 341 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: board with this idea at all. No. I mean, for 342 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: one thing, they didn't want women's rights to be diverted 343 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: by other concerns and on the other hand, some of 344 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: the ideas like free love were way too extreme for 345 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: a lot of the people who were involved. So regardless, 346 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: Victoria gave the speech about free love November seventy one, 347 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:03,479 Speaker 1: and this was kind of a turning point for her 348 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: because after she gave the speech, it sparked this huge 349 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: controversy all around her and her cause. People pretty much 350 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: ignored her message of free love the way she had 351 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: interpreted it and was trying to get it across, and 352 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: they took it more as something that would be considered 353 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: immoral in that day, probably more like we consider free 354 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: love to be now. And so she was denounced in 355 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: the press. It was a big to do, yeah, and 356 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: leaders of the Suffrage Association withdrew their support. And so 357 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: Victoria now is not backed by this group of wealthy, 358 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: influential women and people anymore. Um, she's splintered off with 359 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: a group of more radical women activists. So this radical 360 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: group forms the Equal Rights Party, which has both men 361 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,439 Speaker 1: and women involved, and it's a party about all sorts 362 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: of reforms, basically a reform minded party. And in eighteen 363 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,360 Speaker 1: seven to the party nominated Victoria for president. Interestingly, they 364 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,160 Speaker 1: also nominated Frederick Douglas, who was of course the very 365 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: famous African American leader in the anti slavery movement at 366 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: the time as vice president. He turned the offer down. 367 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: But wood Hall, of course, it does accept and in 368 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: her acceptance speech she says, quote, I have sometimes thought 369 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: that here is something providential and prophetic, and the fact 370 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: that my parents conferred upon me a name which forbids 371 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: the very thought of failure, So again bringing attention to 372 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: her queenly name again Little Queen. At this time, though 373 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: after she was nominated, the Little Queen Star was already 374 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,199 Speaker 1: in decline. Her views had caused her to lose a 375 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: lot of supporters already and her Wall Street business as well. 376 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: She went broke and she got turned out of her 377 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: fancy home, and she had to suspend publication of her weekly. 378 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: So just a really kind of fast fall, you know, 379 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: because of the loss of her support and business, and 380 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: also because she had put so much money into these 381 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,119 Speaker 1: campaigns that she was trying to pull off. Yeah, but 382 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: it was this one last scandal that really did her in, 383 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: and unfortunately it was instigated by Victoria herself. Yeah, here's 384 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: just a little background on that. The wealthy and influential 385 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: Beacher sisters from Boston, Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe 386 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 1: of Uncle Tom's Cabin fame. They hated Victoria. According to 387 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 1: author Jacqueline McLean, who wrote a biography of Victoria Woodhull, 388 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: the Beacher's opposed women's suffrage, and we're really just critical 389 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: of how vocal Victoria was and everything that she did, 390 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: both in her paper and in the speeches that she gave. 391 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: But Victoria had something on them too. She had damaging 392 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: information about their brother, who was a prominent Brooklyn pastor, 393 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,679 Speaker 1: Reverend Henry Ward Beecher now Reverend Beecher, had had an 394 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,679 Speaker 1: affair with the wife of one of his colleagues, possibly 395 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: even impregnated her. She had a miscarriage. Yeah, very scanned lists. 396 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 1: And Victoria knew about this, but she hadn't used it yet. 397 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: I mean, this sort of war between the Beacher sisters 398 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: and Victoria had been going on for some time time. 399 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 1: So weird too if you think about it. The Beacher sisters, Yeah, 400 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: I mean, come on, we think of them as reformers too, definitely, 401 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: And and I know you were mentioning earlier, it is 402 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: strange that they were not reformers involved in the women's movement, 403 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,439 Speaker 1: but so prominent in the abolition movement definitely, And I 404 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: think they were also Victoria saw them as being part 405 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 1: of that sort of elitist upper class set that she 406 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: just could the old establishment that she just couldn't break into. 407 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,120 Speaker 1: So they were just always at odds because of that. 408 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: But in October eighteen seventy two, she revived the Weekly 409 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: for one issue to write an expose about the whole 410 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: affair with the reverend. Maybe there are different theories about 411 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,719 Speaker 1: why she did this. Maybe it's because the Reverend wouldn't 412 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: lend her money when she came to him when she 413 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: was broke. Maybe it's because she just wanted to get 414 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,439 Speaker 1: back up at all her critics, I mean, actually the 415 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,640 Speaker 1: Beacher Sister, especially the Beacher Sister. She had been blasted 416 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: in the press for her free love ideas, and she 417 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: wanted to basically say, Okay, you guys are hypocrites because 418 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 1: I may be talking about free love, but you guys 419 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: are actually out there practicing it if you're having affairs 420 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: with you know, your colleagues wives. So that was sort 421 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: of the motivation behind it. But the issue, as you 422 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,360 Speaker 1: would imagine, flew off the stands I think people were 423 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: buying not just the copies, but then buying used copies, 424 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: and the price kept going up. So it was very popular. 425 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: But it backfired against her in a big way. Victoria 426 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,880 Speaker 1: and her sister were arrested for distributing indecent literature through 427 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: the mail and spent the election day itself in jail. Yeah, 428 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: and so after that, after a scandal of that magnitude, 429 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: even her biggest supporters turned against her. So her political career, 430 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: which hadn't ever really launched, I mean, to be honest, 431 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: it hadn't really gotten off the ground, came to an 432 00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: end quite suddenly. Yeah. I think they were in jail 433 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: for about two months, and then kept getting re arrested 434 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: after that for various indecency charges and libel charges, and 435 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,680 Speaker 1: so it was a struggle for her after that, as 436 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: she had to travel around again with her husband and 437 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: her sister giving speeches here and there for a little money. 438 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,880 Speaker 1: But people didn't really take her seriously after that, more 439 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: of a side show than a speaker you are truly 440 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: interested in hearing, right, So yeah, kind of a disappointing 441 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: ending after a sort of promising rise. But we'll have 442 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: to wrap up the details of her life a little bit. 443 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: As I said at the beginning, there's so much to 444 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: say about her, even her later life after all of this, 445 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: that we could probably do a separate podcast on just 446 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: the post election Victoria. But instead we'll just give you 447 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: a little bit. She ends up divorcing Blood in eighteen 448 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: seventy six when she catches him with another woman. So 449 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: so much for free love, right, we know she's not 450 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: going to go for that. So in eighteen seventy seven 451 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,800 Speaker 1: she joins up with her sister Tennessee again besides seeing 452 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 1: maybe they'll work better together, and they moved to England 453 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: and they get a fresh start. But the really weird 454 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: thing is it takes a hundred thousand dollars for them 455 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: to get to England and set up quite nicely. And 456 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: most people suspect that that money came from a very 457 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: prominent source. Yeah, a lot of people suspect that they 458 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: were actually bribed to leave the country by Vanderbilt's son 459 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: William after his death. And that's because of some feuding 460 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: that was going on between the Vanderbilt siblings over their 461 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: inheritance and William, since he got the biggest chunk, he 462 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: was afraid that the other siblings were going to try 463 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: to prove that their father was not well in his 464 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: mind when he made out his will and used the 465 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:45,160 Speaker 1: the Clafland sisters unfortunately, as an example of why he 466 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,400 Speaker 1: was unwell. So William might have bought them off and 467 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: sent them packing to England. Yeah, it's quite likely that 468 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: somebody did, and it was probably him, because they really 469 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: didn't have any money at that point. They weren't earning 470 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: much on the on Victoria's speech circuit. A good offer 471 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: for them to have taken, though, because once they're there, 472 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: both of the ladies end up becoming rich again. These 473 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: these women have made so many fortunes and lost so many. 474 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,159 Speaker 1: This time it's the old fashioned way though. They just 475 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: marry rich and um Victoria I think you mentioned she 476 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,919 Speaker 1: actually ends up inheriting not just her husband's fortune but 477 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: his father's as well. Yeah, unfortunately share her new husband, 478 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 1: who loves her by all accounts, he after he dies. 479 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: I think he dies maybe a day after a few 480 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 1: days after his father dies. So she inherits a ton 481 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: of money and retires to the English countryside with her 482 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: daughter Zulu, and they spend the rest of their life 483 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: kind of funding these philanthropic efforts and like education and 484 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: so forth. And um, she lives to be eighty eight, 485 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 1: she lives to be eight eight. She dies June nine 486 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: in her sleep, seven years after American women were granted 487 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: the right to vote. Yeah, so this kind of reminded 488 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,199 Speaker 1: me a little bit of fire Chinese Pirates episode in 489 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: that it ends so well. Usually, usually I feel like 490 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,040 Speaker 1: our podcast, even if they're upbeat, they have kind of 491 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,679 Speaker 1: a tragic ending. Not this one. Yeah, this one has 492 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: sort of a if not a happy ending, because I 493 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: think that she did want to redeem her her name 494 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: and her character and her image, and maybe never quite 495 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: got where she wanted to get with that. But um, 496 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: a comfortable and a comfortable ending, a peaceful kind of ending. 497 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:36,200 Speaker 1: So and as we said that at the end, thank 498 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 499 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 500 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 501 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 502 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: be obsolete. Now. So here is our current contact information. 503 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: We are at History Podcast at how Stuffworks dot com, 504 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: and then we're at Missed in the History. All over 505 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: social media, that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumble, Pinterest, 506 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 507 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how staff works dot com. 508 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: H