Hillary Clinton is officially the first woman of any major political party in America to be nominated to run for presidency. If she goes on to win in November, here is a list of are women who are currently serving as president, and who Clinton may have to interact with in one way or the another.
Angela Markel-Germany
Angela Dorothea Merkel is a former research scientist and currently the Chancellor of Germany, a position she has occupied since 2005. She has been named the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine for ten times, and this year, beating a strong field of women including Hillary Clinton.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-Liberia
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the world’s first elected black female president and Africa’s first elected female head of state. After supporting Charles Taylor’s bloody rebellion against President Samuel Doe in 1990, Johnson Sirleaf ran unsuccessfully against Taylor in the 1997 presidential election. Taylor subsequently charged Johnson Sirleaf with treason. In 2005, after campaigning for the removal of President Taylor, Johnson Sirleaf took over as leader of the Unity Party. That year, promising economic development and an end to corruption and civil war, she was elected to the Liberian presidency. She is also the 2011 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dalia Grybauskaite-Lithuania
She was first inaugurated as president in 2009 and re-elected in May 2014. She is the country’s first female president and the first President of Lithuania to be re-elected for a second consecutive term. Analysts attribute her popularity to her financial competence and her ability to avoid domestic scandals. The international press was quick to dub her the “Lithuanian Iron Lady” for her outspoken speech and her black belt in karate. Grybauskaitė, who speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian, French and Polish has mentioned Margaret Thatcher and Mahatma Gandhi as her political role models.
Park Geun-hye-South Korea
Overseeing the world’s 14th largest economy from the capital in Seoul, Kim Jong-un, Park Guen-hye has maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against nuclear testing in the north, garnering the support of the world’s superpowers. Park is also the first female head of state in the history of Korea and the first female president of a Northeast Asian nation.
Veronica Michelle Bachelet-Chile
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria has served as the President of Chile since 2014. She previously served as President from 2006 to 2010, becoming the first woman in her country to do so. After leaving the presidency and while not immediately re-electable, she was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). In 2013, Bachelet was re-elected as President of Chile with over 62% of the vote, bettering the 53.5% she obtained in 2006. She is the first person since 1932 to win the presidency of Chile twice in competitive elections
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic-Croatia
She is the fourth President of Croatia since 2015. She is the first woman to be elected as the President of the Republic, as well as the youngest, aged 46
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca-Malta
In 2014, Coleiro Preca accepted the nomination for President, succeeding George Abela. She is the youngest person to assume the office of President, sworn in at the age of 55, and is the second woman to hold the post after Agatha Barbara.
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