“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you have educated a nation.”
– Kofi Annan
This quote is often attributed to Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. This statement emphasizes the profound impact of educating women on society as a whole. Born April 8, 1938,—died August 18, 2018. A Ghanian international cvil servant, he was the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1997 to 2006. He was the co-recipient, with the United Nations, of the Nobel Price for Peace in 2001.
-Britannica
(1)Cleopatra VII Queen of Egypt (51—30 BC)
Cleopatra was a remarkably educated person, knowledgeable about a wide range of topics, including economics, law, military strategy, and linguistics.
She was also an extremely strong communicator, believed to have been fluent in at least nine languages, and was one of the few Ptolemaic leaders to learn and use the native Egyptian language, allowing her to speak directly to the diverse populations under her rule.
-Biography
(2) Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (1762 to 1796)
She is often included in the ranks of the enlightened depots. Under her long reign, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, and became recognized as one of the great powers of Europe.
-Wikipedia
(3) Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Bohemia (1740-1780)
Maria Theresa of Austria stands out as a major figure in women’s history. She reigned as an absolute monarch for forty years over one of the largest empires in Europe, while facing a situation familiar to women today: she had to juggle the same problems as women in the twenty-first century: being a wife, a mother and having a career.
-The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
(4) Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany (2005 to 2021)
She was the first woman to hold that office, and often described as the leader of the free world.
Merkel emphasized international cooperation, both in the context of the EU and NATO, and the strengthening of transatlantic economic relations.
Reforms to health care reform, the 2010s European migrant crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic were major issues during her chancellorship.
-Wikipedia
(5) Dalia Grybauskaite, (President of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019.)
In June 2014, Grybauskaitė told the German news magazine Focus: “[Putin] uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That’s exactly what Stalin and Hitler did.”
On 20 November 2014, Grybauskaitė, commenting on the conflict in Ukraine, characterized Russia as “a terrorist state which carries out an open aggression against its neighbors.”
In 2024, Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards recognized Grybauskaitė for her opposition to Russian aggression, with Clinton noting “her prescient warnings about the growing aggressiveness of Vladimir Putin, warnings that a lot of people did not want to hear at that time, with the hope that ignoring him and them would cause them to disappear, but Dalia understood the threats that an aggressive Russia under Putin posed before many others did.”
-Wikipedia
(6) Tsi Ing-wen, President of Taiwan (2016-2024)
In the inauguration speech for her first term, Tsi stated policy goals such as pension reform, long-term care for the elderly, transitional justice, and judicial reform.
In her second inauguration speech, Tsi outlined her major goals in her second term, including instituting a lay judge system, lowering the voting age from 20 to 18, and establishing a human rights commission under the Control Yuan.
She also outlined her economic policy, which included transitioning from manufacturing to high-tech industries, with a focus on existing semiconductor and information and communications technology industries, cybersecurity, biotechnology and healthcare, domestic production of military equipment, green energy, and strategically-critical industries.
-Wikipedia
Throughout history are numerous women, such as Empresses, Queens, Heads-of-State, and Presidents, who have and continue to rule, guide, and benefit the inhabitants, citizens and people of their countries who depend and on them for protection, and an unencumbered path to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I have selected six intelligent, well-educated, accomplished women who, in their own time and way, have influenced the course of history remarkably and beneficially.
At this moment in history, another capable, experienced, well-qualified woman is vying for the chancthe office of arguably the most powerful leader in the world…the President of the United States of America.
Timing is everything.
This is the moment in history to elect the first woman President of these United Staes of America.
Seize the Moment.
Vote.
Do Not Be Afraid.