On June 11, 1970, Anna Mae Hays became the first woman in U.S. military history promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
On June 11, 1970, Colonel Anna Mae Hays, then Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general by President Richard Nixon in a ceremony at the White House. This historic promotion marked the first time in the 194-year history of the United States military that a woman had achieved general officer rank.
The promotion was a watershed moment for women in the armed forces, symbolizing a crack in the deeply entrenched gender barriers of military leadership. Hays had already spent nearly three decades in service, including combat-zone nursing during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, before reaching this pinnacle. Her promotion was quickly followed by that of Brigadier General Elizabeth P. Hoisington of the Women's Army Corps on the same day, underscoring a deliberate institutional step toward gender equity in military rank structures.
Hays's promotion was widely covered in the press and hailed as a milestone for women's rights, coming amid the broader social movements of the era advocating for gender equality. It set a precedent that opened doors for future generations of women to rise into senior military leadership. Her achievement remains a foundational moment in American military history, symbolizing both recognition of her individual merit and a broader shift in institutional attitudes toward women's capabilities in service.