Today is a big day. Not many people will take notice, but today, Argentina elected a female Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to the presidency. What it also extremely significant, is that 2 of the three leading presidential candidates were women, and including the second place candidate Elisa Carrio (winning 23% of the popular vote).
Regardless of any of the controversy surrounding the election (Fernandez’s husband is the former president, she won only 45% of the vote, barely enough to avoid a run-off election) — this is truly amazing.
This recent election made me curious- how many other countries have elected female leaders? I have heard of Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi, and , but what countries’ elections have been unreported in the major newspapers and therefore unnoticed by most of America?
The list may surprise you: Finland, New Zealand, Ireland, not so surprising, but The Phillippines, Mozambique, Liberia, and Bosnia, all currently have women in
And those are just some of the women currently in office. We often think that the US is very progressive and modern, and it is in many ways, but we could learn a lot from Argentina when it comes to politics.
Way to go Argentina! And in the next US Presidential election, maybe we’ll have the opportunity to finally cast our vote for a woman.
Women Prime Ministers & Presidents (20th Century) From About.com/women’s history
Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka
Prime Minister, 1960-1965, 1970-1977, 1994-2000.
Indira Gandhi, India
Prime Minister, 1966-77, 1980-1984.
Golda Meir, Israel
Prime Minister, 1969-1974.
Isabel Peron, Argentina
President, 1974-1976
Elisabeth Domitien, Central African Republic
Prime Minister, 1975-1976
Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain
Prime Minister, 1979-1990.
Maria da Lourdes Pintasilgo, Portugal
Prime Minister, 1979-1980.
Lidia Gueiler Tejada, Bolivia
Prime Minister, 1979-1980.
Dame Eugenia Charles, Dominica
Prime Minister, 1980-1995.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttír, Iceland
President, 1980-96.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norway
Prime Minister, 1981, 1986-1989, 1990-1996.
Soong Ching-Ling, Peoples’ Republic of China
Honorary President, 1981.
Milka Planinc, Yugoslavia
Federal Prime Minister, 1982-1986.
Agatha Barbara, Malta
President, 1982-1987.
Maria Liberia-Peters, Netherlands Antilles
Prime Minister, 1984-1986, 1988-1993.
Corazon Aquino, Philippines
President, 1986-92.
Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan
Prime Minister, 1988-1990, 1993-1996.
Kazimiera Danuta Prunskiena, Lithuania
Prime Minister, 1990-91.
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, Nicaragua
Prime Minister, 1990-1996.
Mary Robinson, Ireland
President, 1990-1997.
Ertha Pascal Trouillot, Haiti
Interim President, 1990-1991.
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, German Democratic Republic
President, 1990.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar (Burma)
Her party won 80% of the seats in a democratic election in 1990, but the military government refused to recognize the results. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh
Prime Minister, 1991-1996.
Edith Cresson, France
Prime Minister, 1991-1992.
Hanna Suchocka, Poland
Prime Minister, 1992-1993.
Kim Campbell, Canada
Prime Minister, 1993.
Sylvie Kinigi, Burundi
Prime Minister, 1993-1994.
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwanda
Prime Minister, 1993-1994.
Susanne Camelia-Romer, Netherlands Antilles
Prime Minister, 1993, 1998-
Tansu Çiller, Turkey
Prime Minister, 1993-1995.
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge, Sri Lanka
Prime Minister, 1994, President, 1994-
Reneta Indzhova, Bulgaria
Interim Prime Minister, 1994-1995.
Claudette Werleigh, Haiti
Prime Minister, 1995-1996.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh
Prime Minister, 1996-.
Mary McAleese, Ireland
President, 1997-.
Pamela Gordon, Bermuda
Premier, 1997-1998.
Janet Jagan, Guyana
Prime Minister, 1997, President, 1997-1999.
Jenny Shipley, New Zealand
Prime Minister, 1997-1999.
Ruth Dreifuss, Switzerland
President, 1999-2000.
Jennifer Smith, Bermuda
Prime Minister, 1998-.
Nyam-Osoriyn Tuyaa, Mongolia
Acting Prime Minister, July 1999.
Helen Clark, New Zealand
Prime Minister, 1999-.
Mireya Elisa Moscoso de Arias, Panama
President, 1999-.
Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Latvia
President, 1999-.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen, Finland
President, 2000-.
