What's happening?
Earlier this month women took the helm in Liberia and Chile. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist, beat out a soccer superstar to become the first elected president of Liberia since the ousting of Charles Taylor in 2003. She’s also the first female head of state in Africa And Chile elected its first female president, Michelle Bachelet.
> For more on Charles Taylor and Liberia, download this research report we prepared for a DIVAS in DC in 2003. Download Liberia_2.ppt
Bachelet and Johnson-Sirleaf join an elite club of women who run or have run various countries. Margaret Thatcher (Great Britain), Golda Meir (Israel), Indira Ghandi (India) and Corazon Aquino (The Phillipines) are some of the better-known female leaders. Canada, Poland, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Ireland, even France have all had females at the helm at some point. It's interesting to note that even China had a female as an interim leader for a short time.
> See a listing of women who have led nations.
Will we see a woman at the helm of the United States?
Will it be Hilary vs Condi in ‘08? Wouldn’t that be the cat’s pajamas? The closest the United States has ever come to having a woman in the White House is Geraldine Feraro, who ran as the VP candidate to Walter Mondale in 1984. In the last presidential election the former Illinois Senator Carol Mosely Braun briefly attempted the Democratic nomination. Other than that, here's a listing of women at the top of the political ranks in the United States:
- Four women sit on the President’s Cabinet (out of 15): Condoleeza Rice (Secretary of State), Gale Norton (Secretary of Department of Interior), Elaine Chao (Secretary of Department of Labor), and Margaret Spellings (Secretary, Department of Education);
- 14 female Senators (out of 100)
- 69 females in the House of Representatives (out of 435)
- When Sandra Day O'Connor steps down from the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginzburg will be the only female left on the High Court’s bench.
Let's discuss -
Isn’t it time for a woman in the White House? Some columnists are questioning if it could be Hillary vs Condi in ‘08… TWO female candidates running for President? Wow. Question is, would you vote for a woman for President? Who? Why or why not? Who?
Recent Comments