# Africa gets its first female president before the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 13, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897 "2006-01-13T23:43:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/21 "2006-01-14T08:41:46Z")
Bangladesh has had female Prime Ministers. Khaleda Zia currently, who originally succeeded her husband, and Sheikh Hasina, who served in between. I don’t know the details on Hasina, but I believe she was elected (parliamentary system there). Wikipedia’s page on [Current Female Heads of Government](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Current_female_heads_of_government). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/22 "2006-01-14T08:46:37Z")
Thatcher was elected, fair and square within the rules of the British voting system: she was leader of the Conservative Party at the time of the General Election. Same as all our male PMs. To suggest she was a man because she was odious is a No True Scotsman argument. > [@John Mace](#): > > Of course if it’s Hillary, we will be following in the renowned 3rd World tradition of electing wives or daughters of former Presidents. Or sons… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/23 "2006-01-14T08:49:17Z")
Sorry, **Polerious** , the “NTS” comment was directed at Mr **Mace** not you. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/24 "2006-01-14T08:56:48Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > According to [this](http://salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8F41QU04.html) Liberia gets the first female president in Africa. > > England had Thatcher > India had Indira Gandhi > Pakistan had Benazir Bhutto > Germany has Angela Merkel > And now Liberia has Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf > > Why is the U.S. behind the rest of the world in this respect? Forgot Turkey’s Tansu Ciller ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/25 "2006-01-14T09:05:01Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > Forgot Turkey’s Tansu Ciller Not to mention Eugenia Charles of Dominica (fair & square), Mary Robinson of Ireland (though the Irish Pres is more head-of-state than government), Gloria Acquino (wife of former) and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (daughter of former) of the Philippines, and India elected Sonia Gandhi (Italian Nehru dynasty member who turned it down). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/26 "2006-01-14T09:07:26Z")
…and don’t forget Golda Meir. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/27 "2006-01-14T09:43:30Z")
I didn’t know that **Africa** _had_ a President. :dubious: 😛 But that’s a very real point. Being President of Liberia means less than being Governor of any decent sized US State, and we have had quite a few female Governors. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/28 "2006-01-14T09:51:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Being President of Liberia means less than being Governor of any decent sized US State Hmm. This attitude bugs me. In addition to para-gubernatorial duties, the President of Liberia also has to deal with defense against its near neighbours, international relations and foreign policy, balancing the budget with no recourse to a supra-government, preventing another civil war, attempting to provide healthcare for the entire country etc. etc. The country may be the same size as a US state, and have a similar population size, and its economy may be in the toilet, but the position is a much bigger responsiblility, IMO, than being a governer. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/29 "2006-01-14T10:34:35Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > The country may be the same size as a US state, and have a similar population size, and its economy may be in the toilet, but the position is a much bigger responsiblility, IMO, than being a governer. Well, that’s your Opinion. But still- there’s what- 55 nations in Africa? And some of them change their Head of State a couple times a year. So, even assuming an “election” once every 4 years like the USA has, then Africa gets 55 chances every 4 years to elect a female- and the USA gets one. Those 55 nations can thus be compared to US states. And some 10 or so of those 55 nations have populations under 1 million. Being Head of State of the Seychelles (for example) is quite possibly a less demanding job than some _mayors_ have here. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/30 "2006-01-14T10:37:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Africa gets 55 chances every 4 years to elect a female The problem with this statement, as with the OP, is that it is incorrect to compare an entire continent with a single country, no matter how large or small. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/31 "2006-01-14T10:49:08Z")
Has a serious female candidate actually stood for the position? And didn’t you have one in 1992-2000? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/32 "2006-01-14T10:53:44Z")
…New Zealand has had two: Rt Hon Jenny Shipley and the Rt Hon Helen Clark. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/33 "2006-01-14T17:55:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I didn’t know that **Africa** _had_ a President. :dubious: > > 😛 > > But that’s a very real point. Being President of Liberia means less than being Governor of any decent sized US State, and we have had quite a few female Governors. Whoah there. Would you say that to a Liberian’s face? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/34 "2006-01-14T19:13:23Z")
I don’t see how this puts us ahead of or behind any other country when it comes to women’s rights or reall, anything. In fact I actually find this notion insulting to women, the idea that we haven’t really accepted them into the political process until we’ve run some show-horse female candidate and elected her just so we could say we elected a woman. Women have had political equality with men for a long time in this country. Women have been winning elected office for some time as well. To a lesser degree than men? Certainly, but how many women run for office versus the number of men? This is all, imo, part of the grander debate about there not being a representative number of women in lots of career fields. Politics is a very special career field and thus gets a lot of attention. We might question why fewer women are interested in and run for political office, but that would be a whole different thread. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/35 "2006-01-14T19:14:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > we have had quite a few female Governors. OK, this is a good point. It seems that Americans are able to entrust running their state to a woman. So, 1. Does that necessarily mean that they are able to entrust them with running the whole country? 2. Why haven’t any of the women governors ever run for office? Isn’t it true that, historically, governors have had a good chance of being elected? ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/36 "2006-01-14T19:28:56Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > 1. Does that necessarily mean that they are able to entrust them with running the whole country? The answer to this one seems to be [“yes”](http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/283364p-242829c.html) > [@nydailynews](#): > > The poll, conducted by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by the Hearst Newspapers, found that 81 percent of voters surveyed would vote for a woman for president; Of course, then they say this > [@](#): > > and 67 percent said a female president would be better than a male chief executive in handling domestic issues. Which is stupid (no gender has an advantage on domestic issues), but that is the subject for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/37 "2006-01-14T19:31:24Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Which is stupid (no gender has an advantage on domestic issues), but that is the subject for another thread. It’s quite possible the Americans polled though “domestic” issues meant stuff like taking care of the kids and morality. As opposed to stuff like taxes, criminal justice and etc. One thing you should never do is underestimate the abject stupidity of the public at large. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/38 "2006-01-15T06:50:52Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Not to mention Eugenia Charles of Dominica (fair & square), Mary Robinson of Ireland (though the Irish Pres is more head-of-state than government), Gloria Acquino (wife of former) and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (daughter of former) of the Philippines, and India elected Sonia Gandhi (Italian Nehru dynasty member who turned it down). Wasn’t that _Corazón_ Aquino in the Philippines? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/39 "2006-01-15T15:19:32Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > England had Thatcher > India had Indira Gandhi > Pakistan had Benazir Bhutto > Germany has Angela Merkel > And now Liberia has Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Oh you Americans. Well some of you anyway. Don’t you know that your big neighbour to the north, a member of the G8, has had a female prime minister as well. Her name is [Kim Campbell](http://collections.ic.gc.ca/discourspm/anglais/kc/kc.html), a conservative even, and probably the best looking world leader of them all! And never mind just that. Canada has had 3 separate female Commanders in Chief of our Canadian military and the current female CIC is also black! Her name is Michaelle Jean and she is also very good looking. You Americans have a lot of catching up to do 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897/40 "2006-01-15T16:08:53Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Of course if it’s Hillary, we will be following in the renowned 3rd World tradition of electing wives or daughters of former Presidents. As opposed to the renowned American tradition of electing the widows of former Governors/Senators/Congressmen when the guy dies suddenly? (e.g. - Representative Bono; the widow of the dead guy who beat Ashcroft in 2000; etc.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-gets-its-first-female-president-before-the-us/339897.md?page=3)