Belva Ann Lockwood (1830–1917) was the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and in 1884 and 1888 became the first woman whose name appeared on official ballots for President of the United States, running under the National Equal Rights Party. She earned her law degree from National University Law School — the institution that later became George Washington University's law school — after personally petitioning Congress to pass the law allowing women to practice before the nation's highest court.

This portrait is painted directly onto the cover of a vintage copy of Hail to the Chiefs by Barbara Holland — a title that takes on a different meaning applied to a woman who ran for the office twice and never got the chance to vote for herself. An inkwell and pen rest on the facing cover, a nod to the years Lockwood spent writing and petitioning her way into a profession that barred her by law.