The early and formative years of women's involvement in the political structure of the United States was filled with high hopes, especially issues related to women and children. Educational reform was one of the major goals that women hoped to achieve. As demonstrated by an in-depth look at the 1920 National Convention of the Republican Party, many women who became involved in the early moral and political movements found it difficult to simultaneously accept their responsibility for the protection of moral values in society and to recognize their own limited power to seek social change. Although women have come a long way in achieving some level of equality with men, there are still significant cultural barriers preventing equal political power to women. Recent trends in voting have many people pointing to a "gender gap" of voting preference among women versus men. However, any trend is probably not due to perceived differences between the sexes, but more related to the diversity of educational, racial, ethnic, religious, regional, and financial issues that divide the women's political movement. (BZ)