Condoleezza Rice
Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State, Women in Politics, Bush Administration
condoleezza rice
Position: U.S. Secretary of State
Why she rocks: Secretary Rice is the first female, African-American secretary of state we’ve ever had.
Fun fact: She loves football — her dream job is to be commissioner of the NFL!
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman, Speaker of the House, California, Democratic leaders
nancy pelosi
Position: Speaker of the House
Why she rocks: Speaker Pelosi is the first woman in history to have led a major party in Congress (she was the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives) — and she’s also our first female Speaker!
Fun fact: According to her granddaughter, Speaker Pelosi likes to eat chocolate ice cream for breakfast.
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator, Republican Senator, Texas Senator, Female Senator
kay bailey hutchison
Position: Republican senator from Texas\r\n
Why she rocks: After graduating from law school, no firms would hire Senator Hutchison ... because of her gender. She still went on to be the first female senator from Texas!
Fun fact: Senator Hutchison was prom queen in high school.
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas Governor, Female Governor, Kansas Politicans, Governor Sebelius
kathleen sebelius
Position: Governor of Kansas
Why she rocks: Aside from the fact that she’s my governor? :-) Well, Governor Sebelius was named one of the five best governors in America by
Time magazine in 2005 (that list also included former presidential hopeful
Mike Huckabee).
Fun fact: She is the first daughter of a governor to also become a governor. Her dad, John Gilligan, was governor of Ohio in the 1970s.
Madeleine Albright
madeleine albright
madeleine albright
Position: Former Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton
Why she rocks: She was the first woman to become Secretary of State.
Fun fact: She made a guest appearance on
Gilmore Girls (don’t you miss that show?!) in 2005.
Marie Wilson
marie wilson
marie wilson
Position: President and founder of the White House Project, an awesome organization that works to advance women in politics
Why she rocks: Her organization has helped countless women get involved in the political world. Plus, she’s a blogger, an author (I just read her book,
Closing the Leadership Gap — so inspiring, you have to check it out!), and an activist.
Fun fact: She cocreated Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
Elaine Chao
elaine chao
elaine chao
Position: Secretary of Labor
Why she rocks: She is the first Asian-American woman to be appointed to a President’s cabinet.
Fun fact: When Secretary Chao came to the U.S. from Taiwan at the age of 8, she didn’t speak a word of English — yet she went on to become one of the most powerful women in American politics!
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
ileana ros-lehtinen
Position: Congresswoman from Florida
Why she rocks: Representative Ros-Lehtinen is the first Hispanic woman to be elected to Congress.
Fun fact: She was born in Havana, Cuba.
Hilary Clinton
Hilary clinton
hilary clinton
Position: Senator from New York and former presidential candidate
Why she rocks: She is the first woman to make it as far as she has in a presidential nominating contest.
Fun fact: I got to interview her in New Hampshire — she was SO nice! Another cool tidbit: In 1997, she won a Grammy! The audio version of her book,
It Takes a Village, was honored for Best Spoken Word Album.
Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein
barbara boxer, Dianne Feinstein
barbara boxer and dianne feinstein
Positions: Senators from California
Why they rock: Senators Boxer (Left) and Feinstein (Right) were the first Jewish women elected to the Senate.
Fun fact: These women both earned their positions in the same election, along with a number of other females, leading pundits to call 1992 the Year of the Woman.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
ruth bader
ruth bader ginsburg
Position: Supreme Court Justice
Why she rocks: She is the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court (and is only the second woman ever to serve — Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the first).
Fun fact: She tied for first in her class at Columbia Law School.
Blanche Lincoln
Blanche Lincoln
blanche lincoln
Position: Senator from Arkansas
Why she rocks: Senator Lincoln is the youngest woman ever to be elected to the Senate (at age 38).
Fun fact: Senator Lincoln cofounded the Third Way, an organization that works to find new, nonpartisan solutions to old problems.
Shirley Franklin
shirley franklin
shirley franklin
Position: Mayor of the city of Atlanta
Why she rocks: Mayor Franklin is the first female mayor of Atlanta and the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major southern city.
Fun fact: The White House Project named her one of its 8 in ’08, a group of eight female politicians who could possibly run and/or be elected President in 2008.
Beverly Perdue
beverly perdue
beverly perdue
Position: Current lieutenant governor of North Carolina
Why she rocks: She’s making a run for governor right now — her goal is to “make North Carolina the best-educated and healthiest state.” That’s something we should all want for our own states!
Fun fact: She used to be a public school teacher!
Dana Perino
dana perino
dana perino
Position: White House press secretary
Why she rocks: She is the second woman ever to serve as press secretary. Also, you’ve got to love how she handles herself under pressure — watch her on YouTube to see how she keeps her cool in a roomful of interrogating journalists.
Fun fact: Starting in the third grade and lasting through high school, her dad had her discuss a few newspaper articles at the dinner table every night!
Janet Napolitano
Janet
janet napolitano
Position: Governor of Arizona
Why she rocks: She shares a spot with Governor Sebelius as one of the top five governors in the country, according to
Time magazine. She was also Arizona’s first female attorney general.
Fun fact: She loves mountain-climbing!
Peggy Noonan
peggy
peggy noonan
Position: Columnist for the
Wall Street Journal Why she rocks: This woman has done everything! She was a speechwriter, a special assistant to President Reagan, an author, and a TV commentator.
Fun fact: She was nominated for an Emmy for writing a TV special about September 11.
Arianna Huffington
arianna huffington
arianna huffington
Position: Cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, an influential news and blog Website
Why she rocks: She’s a syndicated columnist, an author, and the host of a radio show.
Fun fact: She was listed as one of the 100 most influential people by
Time magazine.
Sonia Ghandi
sonia
sonia ghandi
Position: President of the National Congress Party, the most powerful political party in India
Why she rocks: She works hard to end discrimination against women and girls in India.
Fun Fact: She’s topped tons of lists of the world\'s most powerful and influential people.
Angela Merkel
angela merkel
angela merkel
Position: Chancellor of Germany
Why she rocks: She’s the first female leader of Germany.
Fun fact: She sometimes communicates with other people in her government through texting!
Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni
tzipi livni
Position: Israeli foreign minister
Why she rocks: Minister Livni is hard at work to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Fun fact: She used to work for the Mossad, Israel’s equivalent of the CIA!
Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
michelle bachelet
Position: President of Chile
Why she rocks: She is the first female president of Chile, and was democratically elected.
Fun fact: She appointed equal numbers of women and men to her cabinet (10 women, 10 men), which is something we (unfortunately) rarely see in politics.\r\n\r\n \r\n
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