Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
{Infobox_President | name = Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf | image = Ellen_Johnson-Sirleaf3.jpg | order = President of Liberia | vicepresident = Joseph Boakai | term_start = 16 January 2006 | predecessor = Gyude Bryant | birth_date = October 29 1938 (age 85) | birth_place = Monrovia, Liberia | party = UP | religion = Methodist }} Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the current President of Liberia, Africa's first elected female head of state and Liberia's first elected female president. She was elected President in the 2005 presidential election and took office in January 2006. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady".
Biography
Her grandfather was a German who married a rural market woman. The grandfather was forced to leave the country during the war in 1917.
Two of Johnson-Sirleaf's grandparents were indigenous Liberians. Her father, the son of the Gola Chief Jahmalae and Jenneh, one of his many wives, was born in Julejuah, Bomi County. As a result of her grandfather's friendship and loyalty to President Hilary Richard Wright Johnson and on the advice of the President, her father was brought to, his name changed to Johnson and he was given to the settler family, McCritty.
Johnson-Sirleaf graduated from the College of West Africa (Monrovia), a United Methodist high school. She received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. in 1964, an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1971. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated [1], a social action organization and the first collegiate sorority founded by and for Black women (1908).
On 5 November 2007, President George W. Bush awarded Johnson-Sirleaf the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award given by the United States.
Personal life
Johnson-Sirleaf is the mother of four sons (two live in the United States and two live in Liberia) and has eight grandchildren. Some of her grandchildren live in Atlanta, Georgia, Florida and London. She is also married and also divorced.
Early career
Returning to Liberia after Harvard, Johnson-Sirleaf became Assistant Minister of Finance in President William Tolbert's administration. In 1980, Tolbert was overthrown and killed by army sergeant Samuel Doe, ending decades of relative stability. Doe was a member of the Krahn ethnic group and was the first Liberian president not to be descended from the elite ex-American slave community. For the next ten years, Doe allowed the Krahn people to dominate public life.
After the overthrow of Tolbert, Johnson-Sirleaf went into exile in Nairobi, Kenya, where she worked for Citibank. She returned to run for Senate in 1985, but when she spoke out against Doe's military regime, she was sentenced to ten years in prison. Released after a short period, she moved to Washington, D.C.. She returned to Liberia again in 1997 in the capacity of an economist, working for the World Bank, and Citibank in Africa.
Initially supporting Charles Taylor's bloody rebellion against President Samuel Doe in 1990, she later went on to oppose him, and ran against him in the 1997 presidential election. She managed only 10% of the votes, as opposed to Taylor's 75%. Taylor charged her with treason. She campaigned for the removal of President Taylor from office, playing an active and supportive role in the transitional government, as the country prepared itself for the 2005 election. With Taylor's departure, she returned to take over the leadership of the Unity Party.
Presidency
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During the election campaign, the grandmother figure was often dwarfed by her party officials and bodyguards.[2] One veteran of Liberia's political scene said Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's nickname comes from her iron will and determination.
"It would have been much easier for her to quit politics and sit at home like others have done but she has never given up,"[3]
In the first round of 2005 voting, she came second with 175,520 votes, putting her through to the runoff vote on November 8 against former soccer player George Weah. On November 11, the National Elections Commission of Liberia declared Johnson-Sirleaf to be president-elect of Liberia. On November 23, they confirmed their decision saying that Johnson-Sirleaf had won with a margin of almost 20% of the vote. Independent, international, regional, and domestic observers declared the vote to be free, fair, and transparent. [citation needed] Her supporters say she has two advantages over the man she faced in the run-off - former football star George Weah - she is better educated and is a woman.[4] Her inauguration took place on January 16, 2006; foreign attendees of the ceremony included Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Michaëlle Jean.
On March 15, 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress, asking for American support to help her country “become a brilliant beacon, an example to Africa and the world of what love of liberty can achieve.” [5]
Uncomfortably for Johnson-Sirleaf, former President Charles Taylor's followers remain in large numbers in Liberia's government. Taylor's estranged wife, Jewel Howard Taylor, is in the Senate. So is Prince Johnson, whose gruesome torture and murder of President Samuel Doe in 1990 was captured on a widely-distributed videotape.
160 Years of Independence Celebration
On July 26, 2007, President Sirleaf celebrated Liberia's 160th Independence Day under the theme "Liberia at 160: Reclaiming the future." She took an unprecedented and symbolic move by asking 25 year old Liberian activist Kimmie Weeks to serve as National Orator for the celebrations. Kimmie became Liberia's youngest National Orator in over a hundred years and delivered a powerful speech. He called for the government to prioritize education and health care. A few days later, President Sirleaf issued an Executive Order making education free and compulsory for all elementary school aged children.
Positions
- 1972–circa 1978: Assistant minister of finance of the government of Liberia
- 1979–1980: Minister of finance of the government of Liberia
- 1982–1985: Vice president of the Africa Regional Office of Citibank, Nairobi
- 1986–1992: Vice president and member of the executive board of Equator Bank, Washington, D.C.
- 1988–1999: Member of board of directors of The Synergos Institute
- 1992–1997: Director of the UN Development Programme Regional Bureau for Africa
- 1997: Standard bearer of Unity Party
- 2004–2005: Chairperson of the Commission on Good Governance (Liberia)
- 2005: Standard bearer of the Unity Party; Candidate for President
- 2006: President of Liberia
Other previous positions:
- Founding member of the International Institute for Women in Political Leadership
- Member of the advisory board of the Modern Africa Growth and Investment Company
- Member of the finance committee of the Modern Africa Fund Managers
- President of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment
- President of the Kormah Development and Investment Corporation
- Senior loan officer of World Bank
- Vice president of Citibank
Miscellaneous information
- Johnson-Sirleaf is the second elected black woman head of state in the world and also second female leader of Liberia after Ruth Perry (who assumed leadership after an overthrow), and the fifth such head of government after Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia, Eugenia Charles of Dominica, Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi and Agathe Uwilingiyimana of Rwanda.[citation needed]
- In 2006, Forbes magazine named her the 51st in the most powerful women in the world. [1]
- Johnson-Sirleaf is a member of The United Methodist Church attending First United Methodist Church of Monrovia.
Publications
- From Disaster to Development (1991)
- The Outlook for Commercial Bank Lending to Sub-Saharan Africa (1992)
- Co-author: Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building (2002), a project of UNIFEM (the United Nations Development Fund for Women)
Awards
- Recipient of the 1988 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom of Speech Award
- Ralph Bunche International Leadership Award
- Grand commander Star of Africa Redemption of Liberia
- Commandeur de l'Ordre du Togo (commander of the Order of Mono(Togo))
- 2006 Common Ground Award [2]recipient
- 2006 Laureate of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger [3]
- 2006 Distinguished Fellow, Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning, Emory University [4]
- 2006 Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws from Marquette University
- 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom [5]
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Jon Lee Anderson, Letter from Liberia, "After the Warlords," The New Yorker, March 27, 2006.
Notes
External links
- Liberian President Speaks to Georgetown Community October 17, 2006
- Johnson-Sirleaf Speaks at U.S. Institute of Peace March 21, 2006 (audio archive available)
- Life Story of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
- Address to US Congress in Joint Session March 15, 2006 TXT PDF
- Profile: Liberia's 'Iron Lady' on BBC News Online, 23 November 2005
- IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA ( site for Independent Lens on PBS
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Gyude Bryant |
President of Liberia 2006 – present |
Incumbent |
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