The harrowing but triumphant story of Liberia’s greatest daughter—Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female president of an African nation and winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won the 2005 Liberian presidential election with the help of women voters, she demolished a barrier few thought possible. She obliterated centuries of patriarchal
rule to become the first female elected head of state in Africa’s history; on a continent and in a culture where women are treated as possessions or objects of conquest, Sirleaf’s ascent to
political power is equal parts astonishing and inspiring. Madame President is “a brisk chronicle of a strong-willed, tireless, and determined leader” (Kirkus Reviews), recounting
Sirleaf’s evolution from an ordinary Liberian mother of four boys to international banking executive, from a victim of domestic violence to a political icon, from a post-war president to a
Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, bestselling author, and native Liberian deftly weaves Sirleaf’s story into the larger narrative of life for Liberian women. Madame President “unspools
like a novel, fitting for a life that is nothing short of mythic” (USA TODAY), as Cooper guides us through the highs and lows of Sirleaf’s life: from imprisonment in a jail cell for
standing up to Liberia’s military government to addressing the United States Congress; from reeling under the onslaught of the Ebola pandemic to signing a deal with then Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton that enshrined American support for Liberian’s future.
“Impressive for both its detail and insight” (The Washington Post) Madame President is a “propulsive” (The New York Times) book that illuminates the life of Liberia’s
greatest daughter in riveting detail and offers universal lessons we can all learn from this “Oracle” of African women.
