Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the current president of Liberia and Africa’s first elected female head of state.
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.
Returning to Liberia after Harvard, Johnson-Sirleaf became Assistant Minister of Finance in President William Tolbert’s administration. In 1980, Tolbert was overthrown by army sergeant Samuel Doe, ending decades of relative stability.
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.
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.”
