On 26 July 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be a major US political party presidential nominee. She won the popular but not electoral vote.
In 1994, Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011) was the first woman to be a major party vice presidential candidate. Both represented the Democratic Party.
All top 10 full democracies (the US is a flawed democracy) in the Democracy Index have had a woman as head of state.
All Nordic countries have had a woman leader, as have Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United Kingdom (not an exhaustive list).
Five of the 10 most populous countries have not had a woman leader, listed here with their global freedom score (larger is better) / democracy index (smaller is better).
- China (9/148)
- United States (83/26)
- Nigeria (43/107)
- Russia (19/124)
- Mexico (6/86)
Five of the 10 most populous countries which have had women leaders are India (66/46), Indonesia (59/52), Pakistan (37/104), Brazil (73/47) and Bangladesh (39/75).
Other major world economies which have yet to be led by a woman include Japan (96/17) and Saudi Arabia (7/152).
In 1960, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (1916-2000) became the world’s first woman prime minister. Her husband had become prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956 and was assassinated in 1959. She served three terms as prime minister, 1960-1965, 1970–77, 1994–2000.
In 1980, the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland.
Women currently serving as heads of state:
- 2009, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh
- 2015, Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal
- 2015, Saara Kuugongelwa, Namíbia
- 2016, Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan
- 2017, Ana Brnabić, Serbia
- 2017, Halimah Yacob, Singapore
- 2017, Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
- 2017, Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland
- 2018, Mia Mottley, Barbados
- 2018, Paula-Mae Weekes, Trinidad and Tobago
- 2018, Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia
- 2018, Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia
- 2019, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark
- 2019, Sanna Marin, Finland
- 2019, Zuzana Čaputová, Slovakia
- 2020, Ingrida Šimonytė, Lithuania
- 2020, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greece
- 2020, Maia Sandu, Moldova (president)
- 2020, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, Gabon
- 2021, Kaja Kallas, Estonia
- 2021, Magdalena Andersson, Sweden
- 2021, Najla Bouden, Tunisia
- 2021, Natalia Gavrilița, Moldova (prime minister)
- 2021, Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo
Turning to U.S. states. In 1925 in Wyoming, Nellie Tayloe Ross became first female governor in the United States. She won a special election after the death of her husband, William B. Ross.
In almost 100 years, only 45 women have been elected U.S. governor. There are currently nine women state governors and one territorial governor; seven are Democrats.
Countries with at least one woman leader
President, prime minister or equivalent
1960s
- 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon)
- 1966, Indira Gandhi, India
- 1969, Golda Meir, Israel
1970s
- 1974, Isabel Perón, Argentina
- 1975, Elisabeth Domitien, Central African Republic
- 1979, Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom
- 1979, Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, Portugal
1980s
- 1980, Eugenia Charles, Dominica
- 1980, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Iceland
- 1981, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norway
- 1982, Agatha Barbara, Malta
- 1986, Corazon Aquino, Philippines
- 1988, Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan
1990s
- 1990, Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, Lithuania
- 1990, Mary Robinson, Ireland
- 1990, Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, Nicaragua
- 1991, Édith Cresson, France
- 1991, Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh
- 1992, Hanna Suchocka, Poland
- 1993, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwanda
- 1993, Kim Campbell, Canada
- 1993, Sylvie Kinigi, Burundi
- 1993, Tansu Çiller, Turkey
- 1995, Claudette Werleigh, Haiti
- 1997, Janet Rosenberg, Guyana
- 1997, Jenny Shipley, New Zealand
- 1999, Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, Panama
- 1999, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvia
- 1999, Ruth Dreifuss, Switzerland
2000s
- 2001, Mame Madior Boye, Senegal
- 2001, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia
- 2001, Tarja Halonen, Finland
- 2002, Maria das Neves, São Tomé and Príncipe
- 2003, Beatriz Merino, Peru
- 2004, Luísa Diogo, Mozambique
- 2004, Radmila Šekerinska, Macedonia
- 2005, Angela Merkel, Germany
- 2005, Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (acting), South Africa
- 2005, Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine
- 2006, Michelle Bachelet, Chile
- 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia
- 2006, Han Myung-sook, South Korea
- 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica
- 2008, Zinaida Greceanîi, Moldova
- 2009, Jadranka Kosor, Croatia
2010s
- 2010, Iveta Radičová, Slovakia
- 2010, Julia Gillard, Australia
- 2010, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago
- 2010, Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica
- 2010, Roza Otunbayeva, Krygyzstan
- 2011, Atifete Jahjaga, Kosovo
- 2011, Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, Mali
- 2011, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark
- 2011, Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand
- 2012, Joyce Banda, Malawi
- 2013, Alenka Bratušek, Slovenia
- 2014, Dilma Rousseff, Brazil
- 2014, Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria, Chile
- 2015, Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, Mauritius
- 2015, Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal
- 2015, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Croatia
- 2015, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Namibia
- 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar
- 2016, Hilda Cathy Heine, Marshall Islands
- 2016, Kersti Kaljulaid, Estonia
- 2016, Tsai Ying-wen, Taiwan
- 2017, Ana Brnabić, Serbia
- 2017, Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
- 2018, Paula-Mae Weekes, Trinidad and Tobago
- 2018, Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia
- 2018, Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia
2020s
- 2020, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greece
- 2020, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, Gabon
- 2021, Kaja Kallas, Estonia
- 2021, Magdalena Andersson, Sweden
- 2021, Najla Bouden, Tunisia
- 2021, Natalia Gavrilița, Moldova (prime minister)
- 2021, Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo
Sources: CNN, History.com, Reuters, Washington Post, Wikipedia
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