Madam President

News Source (various newspapers)

“I am happy, happy, happy, happy, happy !”
That was the reaction of a woman in a Liberian market when asked about Africa’s first elected female president. Jubilation also illuminated faces in South America this weekend, when voters in Chile—one of the continent’s most traditional countries—went to the polls and elected yet another extraordinary woman to lead their nation. And, as if we hadn’t had enough history-making moments in recent days, the first female chancellor ever to lead Germany made her inaugural visit to Washington last week.

A quiet revolution is taking place. Women have slowly made their way to the top spots in governments on all continents. They come from all points on the political spectrum. And in much of the world, the revolution is just getting started.

Once upon a time, women could come to power only if their husbands or fathers cleared the way for them. Then, only “progressive” countries, such as the Scandinavian nations, routinely chose women as leaders. The rest were exceptions, seldom repeated : a Margaret Thatcher in Britain, a Golda Meir in Israel, an occasional prime minister in a Western European country.

This latest crop of women leaders is different. The new leaders of Liberia, Chile and Germany all come from countries that only recently emerged from oppressive dictatorships. Each one of these women came to public view as the result of her own extraordinary efforts. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, who won the January 15 election, was imprisoned and tortured during the dictatorship of August Pinochet. She is a physician who speaks five languages and was minister of health and defense.

Perhaps her greatest feat of courage and skill, however, was standing up to the voters in a deeply Catholic country as an unabashed agnostic and single mother. And winning.

Liberia’s brand new president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, takes over a country that just came out of one of that battered continent’s most brutal conflicts. In a war spurred by greedy warlords and fought by teenage soldiers high on drugs and testosterone, more than 200, 000 Liberians died. When peace finally came after international intervention, few would have guessed a nation ruled by muscle and guns would turn to a woman, impressed by her brains and her heart. The candidate almost everyone expected to win was George Weah, a world-renowned soccer superstar. The retired child-soldiers rallied around the footballer. But Liberians looked closely at their choices, and they made the smart choice. Weah is charismatic and probably well intentioned. But he is a high school drop-out with no government experience.

Johnson-Sirleaf holds a graduate degree from Harvard. She was finance minister in her country and she held a top development job at the United Nations. When she talked of working to bring clean government and development to her country, voters realized she may just know how to do it.

She promises to bring smiles to the faces of Liberian children once again, but she’s not your typical grandmother. Not for nothing, she’s known as the Iron Lady.

Angela Merkel comes to the top job in Germany by way of the East. She grew up in Communist East Germany, in the home of a Lutheran pastor in a country under a government that viewed religion with a combination of disdain and suspicion. She holds a doctorate in physics, but she moved into politics, becoming involved in the democracy movement. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification, Merkel worked with Chancellor Helmut Kohl, gaining his trust and confidence, and gradually rising through the Christian Democratic Party. Lest anyone think all women are pacifists, Merkel took a strong stance in the lead up to the Iraq war. While most Germans—and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder—strongly opposed U. S. plans to attack Iraq, Merkel spoke out in favor of strong action to depose Saddam Hussein.

Once upon a time, idealists spoke of women leaders as the answer to the world’s problems. Women would be soft and smart. No testosterone, no war. As democracy takes root, the reality is proving a little different. When women stand for office, voters have more choices. Different women hold different points of view. These three new leaders face enormous expectations and they will be judged much more harshly than their male counterparts when all does not go according to plan.

Still, their election shows how much voters are missing in countries where women are still excluded from the political process.

One day, celebrations will come to places like Saudi Arabia and Syria and to the many countries where the thought of a woman-led government seems unthinkable today. There, too, the people will one day look at a leader they elected and find reason to smile.

Frida Ghitis writes about world affairs.