Paul assumed a leadership position among national suffragists after the deaths of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. One of the most academically accredited suffragists, Paul obtained a master’s degree in sociology (1907) and a PhD in economics (1912), and also earned a law degree in 1922. During her studies in England, Paul was involved with the British suffrage movement. There she learned radical tactics and accustomed herself to being arrested for the cause.

Returning to the U.S. in 1910, Paul worked with the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Under Paul’s leadership, they planned the Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913. Soon after, Paul went on to found the National Woman’s Party and in 1917 they began picketing the White House for voting rights. Repeatedly arrested and brutalized by authorities, Paul and her “Silent Sentinels” continued their quiet protest for over a year until congress sent the 19th Amendment to the states for ratification in 1919.

Not content to rest on her laurels, Paul agitated to end all legal discrimination against women in the U.S. and abroad. In 1923, she wrote and introduced the document that would become the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1945, she worked to get women recognized in the United Nations charter, and to establish a UN Commission on the Status of Women. Paul’s efforts also pushed into the 1960s, when she agitated to have language prohibiting discrimination based on sex in the Civil Rights Act.​