Born: 29 October 1938, Liberia
Died: NA
Country most active: Liberia
Also known as: Ellen Johnson
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected head of state in modern Africa, is an example of “the glass cliff”—women (and minorities) are more likely to be placed in top positions in business and politics during times of turmoil. But Sirleaf, an economist born in 1938, had certainly proven herself capable of navigating the tumult of Liberian politics. She had served as assistant finance minister in 1972 and ‘73 during the presidency of William Tolbert, and later as finance minister from 1980 to 1985 under the military dictatorship of Samuel K. Doe. Known for her integrity, she came into conflict with both men and, during Doe’s reign, she was imprisoned twice and nearly executed. When she campaigned for a senate seat in 1985, she was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison after openly criticizing the military government, but was released after a short period and spent 12 years in exile in Kenya and the United States.
In her absence, the country fell into civil war as Sirleaf’s international profile rose. She worked with the World Bank, Citibank, and other financial institutions, and served with the United Nations Development Programme from 1992 to 1997 as Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa. When a tentative truce was reached in the civil war, Sirleaf returned to Liberia to run for president in 1997, coming in second to Charles Taylor. She was once again forced into exile when his government charged her with treason, and the civil war had resumed by 1999. Taylor himself went into exile in 2003 and Sirleaf returned once again, this time to lead the Commission on Good Governance, which coordinated preparations for democratic elections.
She ran for president again in 2005, promising to end civil conflict and corruption, create unity and rebuild the infrastructure that had been destroyed and allowed to fall into disrepair. This time she won and was sworn in as Liberia’s president on January 16, 2006 at age 67.
Within the next four years, her policies, shaped by her experience as a prominent international economist, had erased the national debt and millions of dollars in foreign investment were boosting an economy that had had 80 percent unemployment when she took office. She established government bodies like the Truth and Reconciliation Committee to probe corruption and resolve ethnic tensions in 2006 and the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2008. Although she had pledged to serve only one term, she chose to run for re-election in 2010. Adding to the controversy was, ironically, her being awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize shortly before the election, leading to complaints about international interference influencing the voting. Her second term also saw the 2014 Ebola outbreak, killing more than 4,800 Liberians and crippling the economy she had fought to rebuild. When she stepped down in January 2018, it was the country’s first transfer of power between democratically elected leaders since 1944. The following month, she received the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.