President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he wants children to be “astonished” when they realize that there had been no female presidents at one point in the nation’s history.
Obama’s comments were part of the ceremony to commemorate a monument dedicated to women’s equality at the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum in Washington.
“I want young girls and boys to come here 10, 20, 100 years from now to know that women fought for equality, it was not just given to them. I want them to come here and be astonished that there was ever a time when women could not vote,” Obama said. “I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women earned less than men for doing the same work.”
Obama’s comments came after Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with Mic News that he would like to see a woman in the White House. Neither Biden nor Obama have endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate this election cycle.
“I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women were vastly outnumbered in the boardroom or in Congress, that there was ever a time when a woman had never sat in the Oval Office,” Obama added.
