Politicienne Profile: Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hillary Clinton

 

Nationality: American

Offices Held: Fmr. First Lady of Arkansas, Fmr. First Lady of the United States, United States Senator for the State of New York, Fmr. Presidential Candidate

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s career started as a lawyer  working for the Children’s Defense Fund, a legal advocacy group for children. She graduated from Wellesley College and Yale Law School Twice named as one of the most influential lawyers in America by the American Bar Association (once while Bill was governor of Arkansas and once before), Hillary went to work for the extremely prestigious Rose Law Firm. It was often Hillary who was mentioned as a potential future president when people met the future first couple, not Bill. 

A poster from Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

During Bill Clinton’s presidency, Hillary served in an active role, engaging herself in the day-to-day policy decisions of the administration. She was famously charged with co-chairing President Clinton’s initiative to reform the US healthcare system, a task in which she failed. But when she could not succeed in achieving health care reform for the entire nation, she instead went to work in providing healthcare for the nation’s impoverished children. The program she was instrumental in creating is known as the State Children’s Insurance Program (or SCHIP), and provides healthcare to nearly 16 million under-privileged children in the US today. 

Hillary Clinton speaking to the House of Representatives Select Committee on Ethics during the Watergate investigation

Hillary was also instrumental as a representative of the United States abroad. During Bill’s first term, when he was focused on domestic affairs, Hillary effectively served as the global face of the United States for millions of people across the planet, visiting nearly 90 different countries during her tenure as First Lady, more than any First Lady before her. 

After Bill Clinton’s presidency ended, Hillary audaciously announced that she would be the first First Lady to seek elected office in her own right. She ran and was successfully elected to serve as New York’s Senator, and was re-elected by a wide margin in 2006. 

Hillary and Bill Clinton during their time at Yale University

In the beginning of 2007, Hillary (once again, somewhat audaciously) announced that she was running for President. While she was not successful in her quest, she did break barriers that no other woman had before her. She not only won more votes than any woman ever has before in any US election, but she also was the first women to win any state in a primary in US history, and changed US electoral history.

She currently is actively campaigning for Barack Obama’s candidacy for President of the United States and continues to serve as a US Senator for New York.

Hillary Clinton debating fellow contenders for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2008

Hillary Clinton has received numerous awards and much recognition for her work. She was twice named one of the most influential lawyers in America, twice listed as one of the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine, and listed in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as one of the most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine (4 times; second only to Oprah Winfrey).  She was mentioned in national media as early as 1969 in Life Magazine after giving a stunning commencement address as Wellesley Student Body President which received a seven-minute standing ovation. 

 

Hillary Clinton with the author in 2008. I couldn't resist

Tzipi Livni Calls Snap Election

Tzipi Livni, the presumptive Prime Minister of Israel

Tzipi Livni, Israel’s Foreign Minister and Prime Minister in-waiting, called a snap election on Sunday after failing to build a coalition of parties in Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, large enough to form a workable government. Ms. Livni’s party, the centrist Kadima, had garnered the support of the centre-left Labor Party (controlled by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak) and the left-wing Meretz, but could not get the support of the ultra-orthodox Sha’as Party.

Sha’as party leaders forced the election by failing to support the conditions upon which Kadima offered their party to join a potential government. 

Ms. Livni informed Israel’s President that she was unable to form a workable government and asked that the Knesset be dissolved and elections be scheduled to take place in 90 days. The President complied with the Prime Minister’s request, as is customary in most Parliamentary Republics.

The logo of the centrist Kadima Party, which Ms. Livni heads.

Originally Kadima (Ms. Livni’s party), anticipated losing ground to the right-wing Likud Party (led by yet another former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu) if an election were called. But two polls released on Monday indicated that Ms. Livni’s party would gain a very narrow victory over Likud, with Labor polling last amont the three major parties.

Sha’as may regret having forced the election by not accepting Kadima’s government offer as both polls indicated that they will lose seats in the election.

Elizabeth May Included in Canadian Leaders’ Debates

The Green Party, the sixth-largest party in Canada, was included for the first time in the Canadian Party Leaders’ Debates. For those of you unfamiliar with Canadian politics, the Leaders’ Debates are the Canadian equivalent to the US Presidential Debates, where the leaders of all the parties in Parliament debate one another prior to a national election. In Canada, the leader of the largest party in Parliament after an election becomes the Prime Minister. Thus, inclusion in the debates is a key step in being recognized as a national contender for votes. 

Elizabeth May addressing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the 2008 French Leaders' Debate

 

Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, became the third female included in the Canadian Leaders’ Debate. She is currently the only female leader of a major Canadian political party. 

The Canadian Election was held on Tuesday, October 14th. The Green Party received 6.8% of the vote nationally, doubling their previous percentage of the vote, but won no seats. 

American-born Elizabeth May became the leader of the Green Party in 2006 after serving as the leader of the Sierra Club of Canada. She was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005 and has served as the Senior Policy Advisor to a former Environment Minister. 

Politicienne Profile: Yulia Tymoschenko

Nationality: Ukrainian

Position Held: Prime Minister of Ukraine

Party: Yulia Tymoschenko Bloc

Yulia Tymoschenko, elected in early 2005, defeated in late 2005, and elected once again in 2007, is Ukraine’s first female Prime Minister. One of the key leaders of Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution” which lead to the distancing of ties with Russia, Ms. Tymoschenko has been dubbed Ukraine’s “Joan of Arc.”

Yulia Tymoschenko is considered to be the most influential politician in Ukraine and has helped to forge a much closer relationship with the United States. She is considered to be a very serious contender as a candidate for Ukraine’s powerful presidency in 2010.

Before entering politics, Ms. Tymoschenko made a fortune off of the gas industry as a result of the liberalization of the economy at the end of the Soviet Union. 

In 2007, Forbes Magazine listed Tymoschenko as one of the 100 most powerful women on Earth.

Female Political Representation in the Middle East

Among the various regions of the world, there is great variation in the degree to which women are included in the decision-making processes. Among the world’s worst regions in terms of female civic and political participation is the Middle East. 

Below is the map of the Middle East. Each nation is shaded according to the percentage of women whom are members of government. 

 

RED= 0% women legislators or Cabinet members, ORANGE= under 10%, YELLOW= 10-25%

Iraq, Afghanistan, and Morocco have some of the highest female representation in the region. Iraq and Afghanistan have equality policies in place in which a certain proportion of their Parliament’s members must be women. 

Neither Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, nor Bahrain have a single woman as a member of the legislature or government. In Saudi Arabia, this can be attributed to strict laws prohibiting the participation of women in public life. Women are not allowed to go out in public without a male relative, vote, or drive in Saudi Arabia. 

The situation is not much better in many of the nations shaded orange. Kuwait, for example, only hase 2 female members of the legislature, both of which were appointed.

Politicienne Profile: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Nationality: Argentinian

Positions Held: President of Argentina

Former Positions: First Lady of Argentina

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner may not be the first female President of Argentina (Eva Peron was President for a short time after the death of her husband, Military leader Juan Peron), but she is the first to be elected. 

Ms. Kirchner’s political history is an untraditional one. Her husband, Nestor Kirchner, has also served as President. After serving one term with massive support among the people, Mr. Kirchner shocked the nation by announcing that he was not going to seek a second term. Instead his wife announced that she would be running in his place. Making obvious reference to another famous power couple, Ms. Kirchner announced her candidacy before a huge poster of Hillary and Bill Clinton. 

The Argentinean Constitution forbids a President from serving two consecutive terms; there is nothing that forbids serving two non-consecutive terms, however. Thus, the power couple could theoretically trade places as First Husband/Wife and President indefinitely, consolidating their hold on power well into the future. 

Cristina Kirchner announced her candidacy in front of an enormous banner of Hillary Clinton

Cristina (as she is affectionately known) won the 2007 presidential election in a landslide, defeating her nearest opponent by 27 percentage points. Her popularity has declined slightly after a public battle with farmers over agriculture prices. Nonetheless, she still remains largely popular. 

Cristina Kirchner was mentioned in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2007. 

Pres. Cristina Kirchner with her husband, the First Gentleman and Fmr. Pres. Nestor Kirchner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms. Kirchner's approval rating since she took office.

Sexism and Female Politicians

Warning: Contains sexually-explicit images that were used in attempts to degrade female politicians.

The Degradation of Female Politicians Online. The advent of the Internet as a political tool has brought with it the ability to anonymously attack famous political figures using images. While normally of good-natured humor for men, the use of images to attack female politicians more often than not crosses a line by attacking not only the personal characteristics of the candidate, but also the candidate’s gender.

By using sexually explicit images or images that exaggerate feminine characteristics with a negative connotation, the attacks have the subtext of saying that all women, not just the particular woman candidate that they are attacking (which would be a much more valid argument to make), are unsuited for public office or will be lambasted for attempting to seek public office.

Let me restate that: it is perfectly reasonable and legitimate to disagree with a particular candidate that

happens to be a woman and to use the internet as a medium to express one’s disapproval or approval. It is another thing entirely, however, to use that person’s gender to attack them.

Below are some examples of the type of attacks of which I have been discussing above. All of the images below exaggerate feminine characteristics such as digitally enlarging the breasts or photoshopping images of a candidate’s face onto a sexually explicit image.

All of these images are widely-circulated. All of these images are common enough to be found on the first page of a Google Image search containing nothing but the name of the candidate.

The first image that appears when querying “Ségolène Royal” on a Google Image search:

Both of these images are on the first page of images that appear when querying “Hillary Clinton” on a Google Image search:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first image that appears when querying “Angela Merkel”” on a Google Image search:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Locations: 

President Bush back massaging Chancellor Merkel during the 2007 G8 Conference:

Watch the event below on video:

Tzipi Livni Likely To Succeed Olmert as Prime Minister of Israel

Tzipi Livni

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, claimed victory today in the leadership contest of her party, the centrist Kadima, which currently is the largest party in the ruling coalition in the Israeli Parliament (known as the Knesset). Livni has been serving as Acting Prime Minister and Acting Party Leader while Ehud Olmert, the current Prime Minister, is under investigation for corruption and major ethics violations. Official results are expected to be received within hours of now. Livni will have to receive at least 40% of her party’s members’ votes in order to be declared the winner and to avoid a runoff contest with the next-highest vote-winner. Olmert is likely to remain as the official Prime Minister until a new coalition can be formed among political parties in the Knesset or until a new election is held. Polls indicate that if an election were held today, the right wing Likud Party (of which former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was a member prior to forming Kadima) would win handily, largely because of the public backlash against the largely unsuccessful government of Prime Minister Olmert. Livni could turn the party’s prospects around, however. She has publically criticized Prime Minister Olmert on a number of occasions and is seen positively among many Israelis.

 

Forefront: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Background: Israeli Prime Minister (for now) Ehud Olmert

 

Personally, I am excited to hear the news that Tzipi Livni will most likely become the head of the Kadima Party. Her nomination as leader gives Kadima a significantly better shot at winning any future elections that may take place (and there likely will be elections soon after the new leader of Kadima takes over). While I fundamentally disagree with some of her policies in regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she is much more pragmatic and much less hard-line than many of her predecessors have been and than the opposition party Likud would be if it were to win the next elections. I would prefer to see the election of the left wing party Meretz-Yachad, but I prefer Kadima be in power than Likud. I am also excited about the prospect of another potential woman head of government. Women are sorely underrepresented in government around the world. Since 2000, only thirteen women have been elected or appointed as either the President or Prime Minister of their respective nations. The current number of women world leaders is even more pitiful, only six nations currently have women as heads of government. This is utterly pathetic. Seeing any nation select a woman to a leadership position is always something that I passionately welcome.

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 President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of The Philippines, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoschenko of Ukraine, and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia

 

 

 

 

Politicienne Profile: Angela Merkel

Nationality: German

Offices Held: Chancellor of Germany

Party: Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel is the first woman to serve as Chancellor of the German Federation, the most powerful political and governmental position in the country. Because Germany has the largest population in Europe and the third largest economy in the world, this makes her not only one of the most influential people in Europe but also one of the most powerful people in the world.

In addition to this influential position, Ms. Merkel has also served as President of the European Council, the most influential position in the European Union, and as the Chair of the G8, which is the annual meeting of the world’s eight richest nations. She is only the second woman to have chaired the G8, after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. 

TIME Magazine has named Ms. Merkel as one of their 100 most influential people in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2008, Forbes Magazine named Ms. Merkel as the most powerful women in the world for the third year in a row, listing her before Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Condoleeza Rice, The Queen of England, Laura Bush, and the female CEO’s of Pepsi, the FDIC, and Wellspoint, among others. 

Ms. Merkel was elected to the position after an incredibly close election in 2005 against CDU’s main rival, the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She currently serves as Chancellor in a coalition government with the SPD. 

Ms. Merkel has a Ph.D in Physics and is married with no children. 

2005 Campaign Poster

Politicienne Profile: Ségolène Royal

 

Nationality: French

Past Offices Held: Minister of the Environment, Minister for Youth and Children

Current Offices: President of the Poitou-Charentes Region, Regional Deputy

Party: Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party)

Ségolène Royal, born in Sénégal, is currently a key contender for the leadership of the French Socialist Party. After narrowly losing the 2007 French Presidential election, she is considered a major contender for the Socialist Party Presidential nomination in 2012, when French President Nicolas Sarkozy is up for re-election. 

She is one of the primary leaders of the French Socialist Party. Her former partner, François Hollande, is the current leader of the Socialist Party. 

2007 French Presidential Candidates Segolene Royal (Top) and Nicolas Sarkozy (Bottom)

2007 French Presidential Election 

In 2007, Ségolène Royal became the first woman in France to be nominated for president by one of the two major parties (there have been women nominated by several of the much smaller parties). Her opponent was former Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ms. Royal narrowly lost the election to Mr. Sarkozy, having won more votes than any female candidate for president in French history. 

 

Campaign Posters from the 2007 French Presidential Election.