(CNN) — Here are three things you should know about Ruline Steininger: She’s a proud Iowan. She’s 103-years-old. And she wants you to know that she’s “with her.”
When Steininger was born on April 14, 1913, World War I hadn’t started and women couldn’t vote. They wouldn’t be able to cast their ballots until lawmakers amended the Constitution for the 19th time, in 1920. Steininger was seven.
Steininger, who went on to become a school teacher, always had a passion for politics. She cast her first vote in 1936, when she picked Franklin D. Roosevelt to be her President. She hasn’t missed an election since. Yet, she says she never thought she’d see the day a woman’s name was on the ballot.
“I couldn’t imagine a woman. I mean it’s always been a man and I just assumed it might always be,” said Steininger.
Asked by CNN’s Gary Tuchman if she’ll be voting for Clinton this November, Steininger retorted “are you silly?” adding “I don’t know why everyone isn’t for her.”
So moved, in fact, was Steininger at the prospect of voting for Clinton, that she decided to write her a letter.
“In my first century of life, I’ve seen many incredible things” she wrote.
“A pandemic, two worldwide depressions, a cure for polio, the first Catholic president, a man on the moon, the end of smallpox, an attack on American soil, and a black president. In my second century, I look forward to seeing a woman president.”
This past February, Steininger proudly cast her first vote for Hillary Clinton, on the night of the Iowa caucuses.
Now she says, there’s just one pressing task ahead.
“I’ve got a big job ahead of me…I’ve got to live! she said. “After that, OK, I can die if I want to, but I’m going to live until she’s elected.”
