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Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the current president of Liberia and Africa's first elected female head of state. The Liberian elections commission announced her victory on November 23, 2005, following the 2005 election. She is the first elected black woman head of state in the world, and the third such head of government after Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady".
Two of Johnson-Sirleaf's grandparents were indigenous Liberians; another was a German who married a rural market woman. That grandfather was forced to leave the country when Liberia — in loyalty to the United States — declared war on Germany in 1917. Her father, the son of the Gola Chief Jahmale 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 Monrovia, 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 B.b.c in Accounting at Madison Business College in Madison, Wisconsin, USA 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).
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 represented 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 elections. 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 elections. With Taylor's departure, she returned to take over the leadership of the Unity Party.
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 footballer 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. Her inauguration took place on January 16, 2006; foreign attendees of the ceremony included Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Michaelle 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.” [2]
Uncomfortably for Johnson-Sirleaf, former President Charles Taylor's followers remain in large numbers in Liberia's government. Edwin Snowe, the current Speaker of the House (third in the government), is Taylor's son-in-law and was prominent in his government. Taylor's estranged wife, Jewel Howard Taylor, is in the Legislature. So is Prince Johnson, whose gruesome torture and murder of President Samuel Doe in 1990 was captured on a widely-distributed videotape. Nevertheless, on 17 March 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf submitted an official request to Nigeria for Taylor's extradition.
On July 26th, 2006, the Liberian Executive Mansion caught fire while Johnson Sirleaf hosted the leaders of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. Police did not rule out sabotage and Johnson-Sirleaf subsequently said that some of her closest aides would be screened before they could return to work.[3]
Johnson-Sirleaf is the mother of four sons (two live in the United States and two live in Liberia) and has six grandchildren, some of whom live in Atlanta, Georgia. Two of her grandsons attend the Fenster School in Arizona.
Other previous positions: