Famous Women Leaders of the World and What They Did
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
“In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued.”
According to the BBC, Aung San Suu Kyi (b. 1945) is a politician and daughter of a Myanmar independence hero General Aung San. Although sometimes misrepresented internationally as a celebrity, each one of her many awards were ones won through extreme hardship.
To date, Aung San Suu Kyi has spent over fifteen years of her life imprisoned by the Myanmar government—a government which denied requests of reunion with her late husband, whom she had not seen in four years, before he died from cancer.
Aung San Suu Kyi first joined the National League for Democracy (NDL) in the 1980s as an orator and general secretary. Since then, the Nobel Peace Prize honoree has been subject to selectively brutal treatment from her government. She has been barred from attending elections. She has been outlawed from running for president for having a foreign-born husband and children. She has endured cut phone lines, isolation and national media slander. And she has survived a democratic uprising known as ‘8/8/88.’
She is revered, beloved and hailed internationally as an icon of the Burmese democratic movement and a beacon of bravery, dauntlessness and dedication for the country.
2 BENAZIR BHUTTO
“No, I am not pregnant. I am fat. And, as the Prime Minister, it’s my right to be fat if I want to.”
“Benazir Bhutto doesn’t cease to exist the moment she gets married. I am not giving myself away. I belong to myself and I always shall.”
Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) was the first ever female prime minister of a Muslim nation. As prime minister of Pakistan, Bhutto continued the legacy of her father—a prime minister assassinated by a military dictator, and whose funeral she was unable to attend because of imprisonment—in fighting for a liberal, democratic state..
In her two terms as prime minister, Bhutto was a staunch advocate of women’s rights, a progressive opponent of terrorism and a champion of healthcare, housing and ending hunger. She was also a reformist proponent of some socialist principals and made strides in building schools throughout the nation and making electricity accessible in rural areas.
Twice Bhutto became involved in corruption scandals most directly involving her husband, a wealthy landowner who had been accused of taking bribes and mismanagement. But even though both these scandals halted her terms in office, both also led to bids for re-election. The first was successful, but unfortunately the second was cut short.
Following the killings of her siblings, Bhutto left Pakistan in exile for eight years while she continued to lead the Pakistan People’s Party remotely. Upon her long-awaited return, she was met by a mass of supporters so large that it allegedly took the charismatic and well-loved leader over nine hours to drive the eight miles from the airport to her destination.
But Bhutto’s arrival was not just long-awaited by her supporters. Although Benazir Bhutto was a widely beloved icon of human rights in Pakistan, she was also the subject of strong hate from various Islamist groups.
Within hours of her arrival in Pakistan, she was targeted by a suicide bomber. Although she survived the attack, over a hundred others died. Still, the United Nations honoree of a Prize in the Field of Human Rights was eventually assassinated in the same city in which her father was killed, where a suicide bomber shot her in the head before detonating a weapon that killed 20 others.
The news of her death sent her country into shock, and the world along with it—not only did the world lose one of its premier leaders, but a nation with nuclear weapons and political instability had been sent into significantly riotous turmoil.
3 ANGELA MERKEL
“You could certainly say that I’ve never underestimated myself. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious.”
Angela Merkel (b. 1954), an original architect of the European Union, is best known for being the first female Chancellor of Germany. Characterized by caution, thorough analytical ability and strategizing at length, the former research scientist now stands as one of the most powerful women in the world today.
Merkel is a cautious product of communist East Germany. Having been raised as the daughter of a Lutheran minister behind the Iron Curtain, the TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year has a trademark ability to choose her words carefully. Her inclination to take her time making decisions comes as no surprise.
In 2015, however, this changed. This was the year that Merkel made the uncharacteristically quick decision to adopt an open door policy towards refugees in search of safety. Her flexibility and ability to discern when is best to strike are the strengths that awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010.
Since, these characteristics have made Merkel an icon and beacon of possibility for women in Germany, the European Union and beyond.
4 SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
“My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth.”
Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) was the first African-American congresswoman and the first major-party black candidate to make a bid for president of the United States in 1972.
In 2008, the posthumous 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient was credited with paving the way for both candidate Hilary Clinton and candidate Barack Obama. As a congresswoman who only hired women to work in her office (half of which were African-American), this credit is fairly attributed.
During her seven terms in congress, the Columbia University graduate fought for better education opportunities and was a warrior for more accessible childcare and increased employment opportunities. She expanded the food stamp program, was key in making the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and was a top tier member of the Education and Labor Committee.
In 1972, she and congresswoman Azbug introduced a bill that would have attributed $10 billion to childcare over the next three years. It was eventually vetoed by President Nixon, who said that (per The New York Times) it would “weaken the role of family.”
Her ability to make strident change, however, only occurred after she’d originally been relegated a role in the House Forestry Committee upon her induction to congress. Chisholm shocked the world by knowing what she deserved and demanding reassignment. And the opportunities for American women and African-Americans have not been the same since.
5 INDIRA GANDHI
“My father was a statesman. I am a political woman. My father was a saint. I am not.”
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) was the first female prime minister of India. As the daughter of the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi gained firsthand political experience and was able to establish relationships with the major players of the Indian political world.
This experience, coupled with her Oxford University diploma, allowed for the scholar to become the head of the Indian National Congress. It was this position, following the death of her father’s successor, that primed her to become prime minister.
As prime minister, Gandhi’s trademark strong hand sometimes evolved into an authoritarian rule. Initially, Gandhi made strides that made her popular among her people. These strides included her victory in a war with East Pakistan and establishment the nation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Additionally praiseworthy was her Green Revolution, a series of impactful agricultural programs that equipped India with the ability to feed itself self-sufficiently. The Green Revolution was majorly impactful to Sikh citizens of India, who were most disproportionately affected by the food scarcity.
However, it was Gandhi’s changing relationship with Sikh Indians that was to her detriment. In the 1980s, Sikh Indians began to protest in a separatist movement. In an effort to quell these protests, Gandhi sent 70,000 soldiers to a demonstration at the Golden Temple, resulting in the killing of what’s historically estimated as 500 protesters.
Today, British Foreign Secretary William Hague estimates, “as many as 3,000 people were killed including pilgrims caught in the crossfire.” This massacre resulted in India’s death at the hands of two of her trusted Sikh bodyguards, who shot more than 30 rounds into her body outside her home. The assassination triggered further anti-Sikh violence, initiating a tragedy known today as the Sikh genocide.