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Is the United States ready for a woman president? Yes, of course. The only superpower in the world is lagging behind many countries that have ended the male monopoly on political leadership. Chile recently elected Michelle Bachelet as its first woman president. She's a pediatrician and one-time political prisoner of former strongman Augusto Pinochet. In Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated last month as that nation's first woman president. In Finland, Tarja Halonen won re-election in late January as president. Germany's new Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has already touched base with the leaders in Washington and Europe. Two prominent American women who...

Hillary Clinton: U.S. 'Impatient' for Woman Prez Americans are growing 'impatient" as they wait for a woman to be elected president, 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Saturday night. "People are saying,' Well, at least we're ready,'" Clinton told interviewer Jane Pauley, as the two held a public chat for charity in San Francisco. "There's a feeling that it's time," she added. Then, in quotes picked up the New York Sun, the former first lady said she detected "a certain impatience" to see a female president following the election of women to similar roles in other countries. Despite Mrs. Clinton's...

Last week there was a virtual coup in the realm of global women's leadership. Chile elected its first female president, Michelle Bachelet. Liberia swore in its first female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who, incidentally, is also the African continent's first female president. Meanwhile, here in the United States, Geena Davis, the United States' first female president on television, won a Golden Globe for her role as President McKenzie Allen on ABC's "Commander in Chief." Female heads of state are not a 21st-century invention. For years, we have seen some women -- Margaret Thatcher in England, Indira Gandhi in India, Benazir Bhutto...

SOCIALIST Michelle Bachelet, 54, will become the first woman to govern Chile, after defeating conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera in the run-off presidential election. A former defence minister, Ms Bachelet garnered 53.23 per cent of the vote, more than six points ahead of Pinera, according to partial results. Ms Bachelet's victory will extend the rule of the centre-left coalition that has governed the South American country since the 1990 collapse of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. Her electoral victory had been widely anticipated, even though the agnostic single mother of three was not an obvious choice for leadership in this socially conservative Catholic...

Chilean voters have elected a socialist single mother to be their first female president. Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera has conceded defeat in the presidential poll, paving the way for Michelle Bachelet. The result marks an amazing turnaround for Dr Bachelet, who was tortured under the regime of former president Augusto Pinochet and forced into exile. Dr Bachelet was swept to victory in the national election with 53 per cent of the vote. Her campaign promptly proclaimed victory saying Dr Bachelet will be "the president of all Chileans". Dr Bachelet had been widely expected to win the election, but her campaign...

SANTIAGO (AFP) - Socialist Michelle Bachelet became Chile's first-ever female president after sweeping the national election with 53 percent of the vote, according to partial results.

ACCRA, Ghana — First lady Laura Bush said Sunday that the U.S. government is right to eavesdrop on Americans with suspected ties to terrorists and that President Bush worries that revelations about the domestic spying program will cripple efforts to foil terrorists. "I think the American people expect the United States government and the president to do what they can to make sure there's not an attack by foreign terrorists," Mrs. Bush said just before landing here to begin a four-day stay in West Africa. "I think he was worried that it would undermine our efforts by alerting terrorists to...

WASHINGTON — Laura Bush predicted on Friday that the United States soon will have a female president — a Republican, and maybe even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I think it will happen for sure," Mrs. Bush said about a woman in the Oval Office. She made the comment in a CNN interview broadcast on Friday, the day before she leaves for Liberia to attend the inauguration of the first female president in Africa. "I think it will happen probably in the next few terms of the presidency in the United States," Mrs. Bush said. Rice has said she has...

Laura Bush Sees Woman President in Future Jan 13 3:41 PM US/Eastern By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Laura Bush predicted on Friday that the United States soon will have a female president _ a Republican, and maybe even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I think it will happen for sure," Mrs. Bush said about a woman in the Oval Office. She made the comment in a CNN interview broadcast on Friday, the day before she leaves for Liberia to attend the inauguration of the first female president in Africa. "I think it will happen probably in the next...

LOUDONVILLE - Legendary journalist and unofficial first lady of the White House pressroom Helen Thomas kicked off Siena College's First Woman President symposium Friday, saying she was confident that the day will come when a woman takes that solemn oath to lead the nation. "If the knuckleheads I've seen bumble through the job can get elected, then why not a woman," quipped Thomas, to the applause of a packed house at Siena's Student Union building. "We will have a woman president by the end of the century." Since the day President John F. Kennedy took office, Thomas has been a...

I told you it could happen. And it’s happening. A nationwide poll conducted last week by the Siena College Research Institute said more than six in 10 voters believe the United States is ready for a woman president in 2008. Translation: President Hillary. I couldn’t care less if our president is male or female -- I don’t care about the president’s ethnicity, skin color, age or sex. All I care about is what he or she stands for and how effectively he or she executes the job. I like how President Bush is executing his job. I don’t agree with...

Polls finds majority believe country is ready for a women president February 22, 2005 2:55 PM The Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. A clear majority of Americans believes the nation is ready for a woman in the Oval Office. A new poll finds more than six in ten believe the country is ready for a female president. The poll by the Siena College Research Institute, which was sponsored by Hearst newspapers, gives new ammunition to people who believe Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton should run for president. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said they would vote for a woman for president and...