Suffrage efforts in the early 1900s boosted women into educational leadership roles. At this time, superintendents throughout the United States were selected through county elections (Blount,1999). Because many of these county districts had male superintendents who were corrupt and used dishonest financial and administrative practices, women were elected to replace many of the men who had previously held these positions. The victories of these female superintendent were sustained by honesty, credibility, and success in their roles, and by 1930, Blount noted that women held nearly 28% of the nation's superintendencies. In a move to "turn out the ladies," however, male superintendency groups began a national political effort to have school superintendents appointed instead of electing them. These powerful men did not want women to retain their elected positions as superintendents and argued that superintendents should not be elected in public elections that were so "politically charged." The voters did not see through this political ruse and agreed to the appointment of school superintendents instead of an elective process. Because the people who were set up to appoint the superintendents were all men, the women who previously held superintendent positions began to decline; thereafter, males were appointed to nearly all of the superintendent positions across the nation. As a result, female superintendents all but disappeared in the United States after several decades of progress had been made.