Stanley is known for her vigorous women's rights advocacy during the WWII war time period, her work as a prosecutor, and for being the first female assistant district attorney in Erie County.

[1] Although Stanley served only one term before her constituency was redistricted, she used her legislative standing to champion peacetime demobilization and equal pay regardless of sex.

At this point in her career, Stanley was an accomplished attorney who wouldn't threaten a higher-ranking Republican when reelection came around, making her the prime candidate for the job.

[6] Three of the eight candidates she ran against were women; Stanley's female opponents were Flora D. Johnson (Syracuse Democrat also running on the American Labor Party's ticket), Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (New York City Communist and famed activist for workers' and women's rights), and Layle Lane (Harlem Socialist and African American educator, civil rights activist and labor organizer).

Her background in law inspired her inclination to be appointed to the Judiciary, however those in charge of committee assignments (such as James W. Wadsworth Jr.) opposed women in the workplace vehemently, and she received little support from her Republican colleagues due to her short-term status.

[2] Stanley was a major advocate for women's rights in society and the workplace, as she made very clear in her efforts against the New York Judicial System.

Stanley also argued for women to be commissioned as surgeons in the US Army, as well as being a great supporter for the fight to renew the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1943.

[12] Beyond being an advocate for women's rights, Stanley was a major proponent of Post-World War II reconstruction, and was well known as a driving force in sensible post-war planning.

[2] Stanley introduced a concurrent resolution calling for a special joint committee to discuss plausible legislation addressing postwar employment on January 24, 1944.

She supported this in hopes that the withheld tax could bring in an easily acquired source of revenue for the federal government's war effort.