Vera Glaser posed a question to a newly elected President Nixon in a
February 1969 news conference that was the catalyst for the A Few Good
Women project. She asked the president why he had made so few
appointments of women to top-level positions. Taken by surprise, he
immediately responded he would change this and so began the first
systematic program to recruit women in executive positions in the
federal government. Her interview further describes the recruitment of
women into government, the work and recommendations of the Task Force,
the Equal Rights Amendment campaign, and media coverage of women issues
as well as issues of women in journalism.
A Washington correspondent and bureau chief since 1963, Vera Glaser has
written for the North American Newspaper Alliance, Knight Ridder
Newspapers, Maturity News Service, and most recently has been
contributing editor for The Washingtonian magazine. She has been a
freelance writer for a variety of magazines and a commentator on radio
and television. In 1970, she served as a member of President Nixon’s
Task Force on Women’s Rights and Responsibilities and has served as a
public member of a variety of USIA and Department of State advisory
panels. She has been president of the Washington Press Club, a governor
of the National Press Club, and a member of the board of the
International Women’s Media Foundation.