Madam President

As the very first female presidential nominee of a major party, Democrat Hillary Clinton is already in a historic position. Come November, she could achieve another milestone: becoming the first Madam President in United States history. Yet behind the groundbreaking nature of Clinton’s candidacy lies an absence of women in elected office; in terms of female representation at the national level, the U.S. lags behind much of the rest of the world.

Created in collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), the video here is an exploration of this disparity and the real difference that gender, regardless of party, can make.

Of course, what you see would not have been possible without the talents of FiveThirtyEight's Art Director, Kate LaRue, the art and animation skills of Tom McCarten, music + sound design from Redhorse Studio, and data viz guidance from Ella Koeze. Additional thanks goes out to Debbie Walsh at CAWP and Barbara Burrell, both of whom were extremely generous with their time and research.

Cast: Christine Laskowski

Tags: politics, data, women, Hillary Clinton and gender