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Motor Vehicle and Other Transportation Accidents
Mass Transit Accident
Steven J. Mandel
William M. Boyle
Simos Dimas
Felicia L. Boles
James Nemia
Madelyn Jaye
Mandel's Laws
New report U.S. has dismal first-day infant mortality rate
The United States is one of the wealthiest, most technologically advanced nations in the world. Even so, there are many flaws in our system of health care.
According to a new report from Save the Children, an international organization dedicated to changing the lives of children in need, the most vulnerable members of our society are bearing a heavy share of the burden when it comes to substandard medical care. Thousands of American newborns never make it through their first day; rates of infant mortality in the U.S. were found to far outpace those of other industrialized nations.
American first-day deaths outnumber rest of industrialized world combined
According to the report, in the average year, approximately one million children around the world lose their lives on the first day they are born. In countries rich and poor, the day of birth stands out as the most dangerous in an infant's young life.
In the United States, some 11,300 babies die on the day of their birth every year. Save the Children reports that out of the nations studied, the U.S. ranks 30th in terms of its first-day infant mortality rate. Singapore, Slovenia and Estonia are among the countries that outranked the U.S. – and while many countries have made improvements in infant care, the U.S. dropped five places from the 2012 Save the Children report.
The United States has 50 percent more first-day infant deaths than the 33 other industrialized nations included in the report combined. While the European Union taken as a whole has a million more births than the U.S. in the average year, it loses only half as many infants on their first day of life.
Get help from a personal injury attorney if your child was injured or killed in a hospital
Losing a child can be an incredibly painful experience – but it is something that a disproportionate number of Americans have to go through.
If your child was injured or killed due to a mistake made by healthcare providers, you have legal options. No amount of money can ever truly make up for the harm done to your child; but, seeking just compensation can help you through a tough time and force negligent medical practitioners to take responsibility for their mistakes.
If you're among the thousands of American parents whose child has been injured or killed in a hospital, you need legal assistance. A personal injury attorney can review your case and explain your legal options. Talk to a personal injury attorney today to learn more.
Former New York City Cop Freed After 10 Years for Drunk Driving Crash
New York Authorities Arresting Improperly Licensed Commercial Drivers
New York Cop Sues Building Owner for Drug and Criminal Haven
RETAINED FOREIGN OBJECTS TARGETED IN NEW JOINT COMMISSION REPORT
The Dangers of Lead Poisoning for Children
Working toward Rory Law in New York Botched diagnosis triggers reform
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The best! Everyone in the office is so compassionate and knowledgeable. I was really emotionally distraught, and Steve Mandel was so attentive and so competent as he helped me through this process. Steve Mandel is a great person, a genuine person. I am so grateful I found him.
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According to Money Magazine, "improving the envelope" of your home is a good place to start. Sunlight, seasonal temperature changes and wind vibrations can loosen up even a tight home, increasing air leakage. Doors and windows may not close tightly, and duct work can spring leaks, wasting cooled and heated air. By placing weather stripping and caulk around windows and doors, you can keep cool air inside during warm months and prevent chilly air from penetrating the indoors during colder months. Sealing gaps around piping, dryer vents, fans and outlets also helps to seal the envelope and creates greater efficiency. Apply weather stripping around overlooked spaces like your attic hatch or pull-down stairs.
Replacing incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs can make a big difference in home efficiency and is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy bill. Known for their longevity and efficiency, LED bulbs have an estimated operational life span of typically 10,000 to 20,000 hours compared to 1,000 hours of a typical incandescent. According to the Dept. of Energy, by replacing your home's five most frequently used light fixtures or bulbs with models that have earned the ENERGY STAR rating, you can save $75 each year.
Remember, there are easy steps you can take now to improve the energy efficiency of your home. To learn about additional ways to save, contact your local electric cooperative.


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Football - American
When was the first football game?
Peter Green ∙
Breanne Watsica ∙
Q: When was the first football game?
In what year was the first intercollegiate football game played?
1869 was the first intercollegiate football game.
How did the Arena Football League get its start?
The Arena Football League was first started from an idea of an indoor football game. The first game was played in 1987. The first test game was played in Rockford Illinois.
What was the first American football game ever filmed?
The first American football game filmed was between the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago in 1904. Click on the 'First Filmed American Football Game' link on this page to read about the game.
When was the first college football game televised?
Michigan's first televised game was in what year?
When and where was the first game of football played?
about the 1920
What was a football game first like?
Where was first football game started?
from egypt
What is the first play in a football game?
kickoff.
Where was the first college football game?
rutegers
When was the first preseason football game?
How old is the first football?
The first successful filming of a College Football game was in 1904 at a game between the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago.
What Year Was Football Founded?
The first American football game was a college game played in 1869. The National Football League was established in 1920.
Asked By Peter Green

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nixon Motor Sports: Pungo Autocross Report!
I hope your Independence Day weekend was great, and just maybe you enjoyed doing something fun too. The FIAT Abarth and I were at Pungo with the Old Dominion region SCCA drivers in another autocross, and it was a ton of fun!
What's cooler than a Morgan?
Today I autocrossed with the Old Dominion Region of the Sports Car Club of America at Pungo Virginia, and had a great time in five runs.
Out of 46 total drivers my PAX time put me 16th fastest of the day, so not too bad for the only Italian Car driving today!
What's cooler than a Morgan that autocrosses?
A Morgan with Darth Vader riding along!
The Morgans are still made in England, and in addition to the classic roadster types you see here, they also make a unique little three wheeler too!
What's cooler than a Morgan that autocrosses with Darth Vader on board?
A Morgan that arrives on a trailer pulled by this awesome 1939 Chevy truck!
This has to be the coolest two vehicle that I've ever seen!
This is the timing light at the finish line today, covered in plastic for the predicted rain later in the day.
Sure enough, I was in the last run group, and after finishing my 5th and final run, I noticed a few raindrops on my windshield!
Good job to the ODR folks for getting everyone their runs in before the rain hit. Rain makes everyone slower, so it can be tough when some drivers were dry and others were getting wet!
I've noticed these Mercury Capri little convertibles ever since they were made a while ago, but have never ridden in one or seen one autocross. Until today that is, so at least I've seen one on course.
So I've still never driven one, but they still have a certain funkiness about them just for being so small in a world of gigantic SUVs where any convertible is unusual.
TWO Morgans autocrossing in the same event.
This one is a 1958 model, and with two drivers sharing it, we saw a lot of Morgan action out on the course at Pungo today.
Since the US Women's World Cup team just won the world championship today by easily beating Japan, let's keep saluting the USA with this awesome Camaro.
And it's still the 4th of July weekend too, so unless you're eating a hot dog and playing baseball at the same time I don't know how you could possibly be more American than this!
OK, a 1964 Corvette driving around the course on a nice day on July 5th is pretty darn American too!
Rumors keep building that Chevy just might build a Corvette with a rear engine instead of the traditional front engine. I've always been fascinated with rear or mid engine cars, so if Chevy is listening, I vote YES!
Here's a bit of the view at Pungo as the cars are lined up before the first run group.
In addition to the cars you've seen here, there were plenty of Miatas, Subarus, Mustangs, Porsches, and of course the one Italian FIAT Abarth.
Throw in a quick Focus ST that won my GS class and a few other cool cars like a Factory Five Cobra, and you've got all the ingredients for another great autocross.
SCCA autocross rules allow for a lot of different types of cars to enter in a LOT of different classes, and this one right here is my favorite because the class spells out the word "STUN".
We'd all like to think our cars are STUNNINGLY fast, but in this case it's just the short version of "Street Touring Ultra-Novice" class.
Here's my five run times from today below.
1: First run I managed to avoid the cones and stay on course, with a time of 42.875. After the first run I usually manage to go faster, so today was no different.
4: Managed to go faster, but also managed to hit a cone somewhere, so the raw time of 41.824 gets wiped out with a 2 second penalty. Just one more run to go!
5: Another run faster than my previous best, but somehow another cone went down, so the 41.903 also doesn't count.


Tangible Tidbits 2010 #20: This Is It!
I just purchased a book called Beautiful Beaded Bags from Amazon.com...for only $4! It will be a while before I get to take a good look at it, but at first glance, it seems like there are lots of kewl projects in there! ;) I also have three DVD sets on wire jewelry techniques and a number of kits that I have purchased from guest speakers at recent BSNJ meetings, which I will be exploring this summer before school starts back up again. Be on the lookout for a bunch of new and different projects soon!
On a brighter note, I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend! It's unusually warm again here in New Jersey. :p My two nieces are both in the Memorial Day Parade tomorrow in Warren, NJ; one with the Girl Scouts and the other with her Daisy Troop. Mom and I will go cheer them on.
Tangible Tidbits 2010 #16: Taking the Plunge!


8 hours worth of work on SSRS 2014 reports (ReportBuilder 3.0) and SQL Server stored procedures and queries. Please bid for what 8 hours would be.
I have good knowledge of msbi. And I can complete this as quickly as possible.


Jack Rodway has been an Account Executive at The PR Office for six months, and talks us through his experiences of his first permanent PR role.
Whilst I've known for a long time that PR was the career path I wished to follow, joining The PR Office has been eye-opening and surprising on so many levels. Even after a summer interning in legal PR the year before, I was still unprepared for the fast-moving nature of work in a permanent role, the excitement of being given opportunities and watching myself develop, and the sheer variety of the clients I was to encounter.
In my first month I was brought onto client projects and was given the opportunity to help organise, and eventually attend, a major event. I can't stress enough what a big impression it makes on a new joiner to be given the opportunity to participate in this sort of work from the get-go. Seeing the result of your work first-hand gives you a real appreciation for the importance of the smaller jobs and the contribution you can make to a project, all of which gets you up-to-speed on the client with regards to their relevant issues and topics.
In terms of my personal growth and development, transitioning from the life of a student into that of a (hopefully!) competent PR practitioner was certainly a wake-up call. Real-world, real-time challenges tested me on a number of levels and, whilst tough at times, it was clear before long that I was learning new skills. I have no doubt that being able to stay on top of everything whilst juggling a long to-do list is a skill that will prove useful in other areas in my life. Whilst I don't claim to be an organisational grandmaster just yet I am getting more used to moving efficiently and effectively from one task to another, whether writing a press release one moment to briefing the media or preparing a press list the next. I have quickly learnt that in PR it isn't always possible to rigidly plan your day – being able to adapt on the fly is vital.
I would be lying if I claimed that the only positive aspects of my job are to do with client work, schmoozing journalists and revamping old media lists. The PR Office's working environment is a pleasure to be a part of. From mini golf at our summer away day, to steak and cocktails at the Christmas party, and pool and beers in the office on Friday afternoons, the challenging work has been constantly balanced with opportunities to kick back as a team. It's hard to quantify what a difference it makes when you're snowed under to be surrounded by a supportive team.
Jack Rodway is an English literature and creative writing graduate from Lancaster University and is now an Account Executive at The PR Office.


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You've got to stay the course and suffer the consequences, the indignities and the difficulties.
Africa's First Woman President
Ellen Eugenia Johnson was born in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. Founded in the 19th century by freed slaves from the United States, Liberia is the oldest republic in Africa. Its society has long been marked by tension between the indigenous people and the descendants of the American settlers. Three of Ellen Johnson's grandparents were of native Liberian descent; her paternal grandfather was a traditional chief of the Gola people. Her maternal grandfather was a German merchant who left the country during the First World War.
Ellen Johnson's mother was a teacher, her father an attorney, and the first indigenous Liberian to serve in the country's legislature, a body long dominated by the descendants of the American settlers. Her parents placed a high value on education, and young Ellen received her secondary education at the prestigious College of West Africa in Monrovia, the nation's capital. University seemed a logical next step, but at 17, Ellen married James Sirleaf, a young agronomist with a degree from the University of Wisconsin.
2010: Liberia's President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and U.S. President Barack Obama face the microphones of the Washington press corps in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, D.C. (AP Images/Charles Dharapak)
With four sons born in rapid succession, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf settled into the role of homemaker, while many of her school friends embarked on professional careers. James Sirleaf worked in Liberia's Department of Agriculture. To augment the family income, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf worked as a bookkeeper for an auto repair shop. When her husband was offered the opportunity to pursue graduate studies in the United States, the Sirleafs left their children in the care of grandparents and made the trip to America together. While her husband pursued a graduate degree from the University of Wisconsin's School of Agriculture, Ellen studied accounting at the Madison College of Business. On their return to Liberia, he resumed work in the Agriculture Department while, in 1965, she entered the Treasury Department, later known as the Ministry of Finance.
The pressure of two careers placed a strain on the Sirleafs' marriage. When her husband became violent and abusive, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf filed for divorce. After the dissolution of her marriage, she continued her education in the United States, earning an economics degree from the University of Colorado. In 1971, she completed a master's in public administration at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia addresses the press in Beijing during her 2006 state visit to China. (AP)
The following year, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Assistant Finance Minister in the administration of Liberian President William Tolbert. Her public criticism of administration policy, on occasions such as a commencement address at the College of West Africa, attracted national attention and created friction between Johnson Sirleaf and her superiors. In the mid-1970s, she left the Ministry to work for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., but she returned to Liberia in 1977 to serve as Deputy Finance Minister. In 1979, a rice shortage provoked riots in the streets of Monrovia. Repressive measures on the part of the government, intended to quell the violence, further inflamed public opinion and antagonized educated members of the country's indigenous population. President Tolbert fired his finance minister and appointed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to take his place; she was the first woman to hold this position in Liberia. As Finance Minister, she attempted a much-needed reform of the country's finances, but long-simmering tensions soon boiled over.
On April 12, 1980, a cadre of non-commissioned officers, led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, staged a coup d'état. President Tolbert and 26 of his followers were killed on the day of the coup. Ten days later, 13 members of Tolbert's cabinet were executed in public. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and three other ministers were spared, but life in Liberia would soon become dangerous for anyone who opposed Doe and his allies. Johnson Sirleaf served briefly as president of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), but her situation soon became impossible and she fled the country. For a brief time, she again worked as a senior loan officer for the World Bank in the United States, but was soon back in Africa, as vice president of Citicorp's Africa Office in Nairobi, Kenya.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, seen during the closing session of the 17th Summit of the African Union in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, 2011. The day's session was dominated by debate over the turmoil in Libya, where Moammar Gadhafi clung precariously to power in the face of a popular uprising against his 42-year rule. (AP)
Seeking international legitimacy for his regime, Samuel Doe scheduled elections in 1985. Johnson Sirleaf returned to Liberia to run for the vice presidency but was soon arrested for criticizing Doe's corrupt regime. She was sentenced to ten years in prison, but international pressure forced Doe to pardon her shortly into her sentence. Although her name was removed from the vice presidential ballot, Johnson Sirleaf was permitted to run for the Senate. The subsequent election was widely viewed as fraudulent, and although Johnson Sirleaf won a seat in the Senate, she refused to accept it. In November of 1985, she was arrested again and held until July of the following year, after which she left the country in secret and took a job as a vice president of HSBC Equator Bank in Washington.
Johnson Sirleaf had made a new life for herself in the world outside Liberia, but she closely followed developments in her homeland. After repeated coup attempts against the Doe regime and extrajudicial killings of opposition leaders, the country descended into inter-tribal violence and civil war. In 1989, a former Doe ally, Charles Taylor, led an armed uprising against the regime. Initially, Johnson Sirleaf supported Taylor's insurgency, but the rebels' violent methods soon alienated Johnson Sirleaf and many other Liberians. In 1990, Samuel Doe was captured, in Monrovia, by a group of rebels who recorded and broadcast his torture and execution. Although Taylor emerged as the most powerful of the rebel commanders, he was unable to consolidate his rule, and fighting between rival factions continued for many years.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during a 2006 visit to Providence, Rhode Island, where she met with the state's congressional delegation before speaking to a crowd of Liberian nationals gathered before City Hall. (AP)
In 1992, Johnson Sirleaf joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The first woman to run the UN's development program for Africa, she served for five years as assistant administrator and director of the UNDP Regional Bureau of Africa, holding the title of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. By 1996, a coalition of neighboring African countries had forced the warring Liberian factions to agree to a ceasefire, and national elections were scheduled for the following year.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf returned to Liberia to run for president, but in an atmosphere still haunted by the violence of the preceding decade, she was decisively defeated by Charles Taylor. The regime of President Taylor proved to be a corrupt and repressive one, and Johnson Sirleaf became its most outspoken critic and her country's most visible advocate for reform. When President Taylor threatened to have her killed for her opposition to his administration, she moved to the neighboring country of Côte d'Ivoire, where she established a venture capital firm, the Kormah Development and Investment Corporation, as well as Measuagoon, a community development NGO for Liberia.
The new President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, dons the presidential sash with assistance from Liberia's Senior Ambassador-at-Large, George W. Wallace, Jr., during her inauguration ceremony at the Capitol Building in Monrovia, Liberia, January 16, 2006. Johnson Sirleaf was Africa's first elected female head of state. (AP Images)
Meanwhile, General Taylor plunged Liberia into war with its neighbors. Insurgencies and counter-insurgencies recruited children to fight and commit atrocities, and the country teetered on the brink of dissolution. Attacks by armed resistance groups, pressure from the international community — and the courageous nonviolent resistance of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace — eventually led to Taylor's resignation. In 2003, the disgraced president fled to Nigeria. He was later arrested for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court sentenced Taylor, age 64, to 50 years in prison.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf returned to Liberia in 2003 to chair the Governance Reform Commission of the Transitional Government. In this capacity, she successfully transferred the reporting mechanism of the General Auditing Commission from the control of the executive branch to the legislature, enabling more democratic oversight of the nation's finances.
2005: President George W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in an awards ceremony in the East Room of the White House. (AP)
In 2005, Johnson Sirleaf resigned from the Commission to accept the nomination of the Unity Party as its candidate for President of Liberia in the country's first truly free election. Johnson Sirleaf placed second in the first round of voting, but won the runoff decisively, with 59 percent of the vote. On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as the 24th President of Liberia. She is the first elected female head of state in African history.
Johnson Sirleaf spent the next five years repairing the damage done by 25 years of violence and misrule. From its peak of prosperity, prior to the 1980 coup, Liberia had become one of the world's poorest nations, beset by illiteracy, hunger and pandemic unemployment. In her first years in office, Johnson Sirleaf negotiated the lifting of international trade sanctions against Liberia and complete forgiveness of the country's crushing external debt.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa presents the Golden Plate Award to the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, at the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii. (© Academy of Achievement)
By executive order, Johnson Sirleaf established a right to free, universal elementary education. President Johnson Sirleaf also enforced equal rights for women, rights that were routinely ignored and abused during the chaotic years of civil war. Among other infrastructure projects, her administration built over 800 miles of roads, attracting substantial foreign investment in mining, agriculture, and forestry, as well as offshore oil exploration. A strong ally of the United States, President Johnson Sirleaf addressed a joint session of the United States Congress shortly after her inauguration. Liberia also won support from China for construction of a new national university. President Johnson Sirleaf placed a high importance on African and regional relations as well. She chairs the Mano River Union, fostering peace and economic cooperation among the neighboring nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire.
2017: Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by Helene Cooper is the inspiring, often heartbreaking story of Johnson 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. The highs and lows of Johnson Sirleaf's life are filled with indelible images: from imprisonment in a jail cell for standing up to Liberia's military government to addressing the U.S. Congress, from reeling under the onslaught of the Ebola pandemic to signing a deal with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In 2010, Newsweek magazine listed Johnson Sirleaf as one of the "Ten Best Leaders in the World," while The Economist called her "the best president the country has ever had." A grandmother of eight, President Johnson Sirleaf has become a popular symbol of democracy and women's rights, not only in her own country but throughout Africa and the developing world. In 2011, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, along with women's rights campaigners Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. The Nobel Committee credited Johnson Sirleaf's contribution to "securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women." Four days after the announcement of the Nobel Prize, President Johnson Sirleaf was elected to a second six-year term in office.
President Johnson Sirleaf set a new precedent for an African president, making good on her promise to retire after serving two full terms. She declined to endorse the nominee of the Unity Party, Vice President Joseph Boakai, and instead threw her support to a former opponent, George Weah, a retired soccer star who enjoyed enormous popularity with the Liberian public. Johnson Sirleaf's choice, George Weah, won a decisive victory in the 2017 election. Johnson Sirleaf's former supporters expelled her from the Unity Party, while she prepared Liberia for a peaceful transition of power from one party to another.
In January 2018, Mr. Weah was sworn in as President of Liberia — the country's first peaceful, democratic transition of power in 73 years. A month later, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was awarded the $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. In making the award, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation cited Johnson Sirleaf's "transformative leadership" of a country "devastated and broken by 14 years of civil war." The prize, endowed by the Sudanese-born British philanthropist Mo Ibrahim, is awarded only to democratically-elected African leaders who leave office at the end of their constitutionally mandated terms.
In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the oath of office as President of Liberia, the first woman to serve as elected leader of an African nation. Her victory was the culmination of a 25-year campaign to bring democracy and justice to her country, a struggle that repeatedly subjected her to death threats, exile and imprisonment.
The oldest republic in Africa, Liberia was founded in the 19th century by freed slaves from the United States. In the 20th century, tensions between the indigenous population and the descendants of the Americo-Liberian settlers erupted into violent conflict. The Harvard-educated Johnson Sirleaf served as Minister of Finance before the elected government fell victim to a military coup in 1980. Johnson Sirleaf went into exile, escaping the fate of her former cabinet colleagues, who were executed by the government of General Samuel Doe. Five years later, she returned to run for the vice presidency, only to be arrested for criticizing the general's corrupt and dictatorial rule. Initially sentenced to ten years in prison, worldwide outcry led to her release. She again went into exile, and built a second career in banking and international development, running the African bureau of the UN Development Programme.
Johnson Sirleaf returned to Liberia in the 1990s, after the violent overthrow of General Doe. She ran for president in 1997, but the victor in that contest, Charles Taylor, forced her into exile yet again. Taylor's rule proved disastrous, embroiling Liberia in war with its neighbors, while the country descended into chaos. When Taylor fell from power, Johnson Sirleaf returned to chair a national commission on government reform, setting the stage for Liberia's first truly free election in decades.
After winning a decisive victory in the 2005 election, President Johnson Sirleaf moved quickly to repair the wounds of years of misrule and disorder. She introduced free and compulsory elementary education, and pursued foreign investment and land reform. After election to two six-year terms, she announced her decision to retire. Defying her own party, she endorsed a former opponent to succeed her, ensuring a peaceful transfer of power. Her courage and tenacity in facing down her most ruthless adversaries have earned this diminutive grandmother a fitting nickname, the Iron Lady of Africa.
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Going back for a moment to the Liberia of your childhood, paint a picture of what it was like politically and socially at that time. Was there a lot of strife? Was it a relatively peaceful period?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: If we're talking about my childhood, yeah, very peaceful. Underdeveloped countries, not too many of the comforts that one would find other places. But a happy childhood, free from violence, free from lawlessness. The extended family system made everybody someone else's keeper. Of course, that all was changed when the trouble started in 1979. When we had the Rice Riots, and a year later in 1980 a coup d'état, the whole environment had changed. But during my childhood, and up until the time when I was moving up professionally, the country was a great place to be. Everybody knew everybody. It's a small country, small population. So it was easy to move around, easy to pursue what one wanted. The difficulty started after.
What happened in 1979? What were the Rice Riots?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: There was, as we have now, commodity price increases and shortages of basic commodities, and rice was one of them. Rice is the staple of our country. So the price of rice went up and there was an attempt to try to stabilize the price by increasing it, so as to provide incentive for domestic production, and that led to riots. Now the riot said to be based on rice really was also a result of political turbulence, because there already was the movement to challenge the status quo. We had had the monopolization of power and privilege in the country for a long time, and the educated indigenous population was already emboldened. So the shortage of rice provided an excuse for that. But that led to over-reactive force by the government that left a lot of people dead. People were then imprisoned, and so the soldiers then, a year later, decided to stage a coup d'état. These were uncommissioned officers, and as you know, there was tremendous brutality associated with that, where 13 people were tied to stakes on a beach and shot. So many people were killed.
I was then an official — Minister of Finance, the head of my Ministry.
Working for President Tolbert?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes, it was the Tolbert government. I was in the Ministry as a deputy at the time of the Rice Riots in '79. The Minister then was removed. I was actually appointed Minister after that in '79. So when the coup d'état came, I was the Minister of Finance. The previous Minister was shot. There were four of us, of all the cabinet, that were spared, that were not killed or something. I was sent away on virtual house arrest for a while.
President Tolbert was killed, wasn't he? Along with most of his cabinet?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The president was killed. There were 13 persons, not all of them cabinet ministers. I think about ten of them were cabinet ministers that were all shot.
The leader that took over then was Samuel Doe. Could you tell us about him?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Samuel Doe was a sergeant, a very young sergeant who led the rebellion and led all the action that took over. He pronounced himself the leader and proceeded to govern. Of course, he started off making sure that the order was totally challenged and uprooted. But it didn't take very long for him to adopt some of the same practices that he and his colleagues had criticized so much. As a matter of fact, even worse, because they introduced violence into the society and they ruled by fiat, by decrees. The criticism of the settler population monopolizing power was simply replaced by his own ethnic group monopolizing power. And of course, there was not much done. A lot of corruption, not much development. And the brain drain, most of the talented people left the country. Capital flight, most of the businesses closed and sent their money out, and that started the economic freefall that we're only just recovering from.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa applauds the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, during a panel discussion at the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii. (© Academy of Achievement)
How did you end up under house arrest?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I was in a house the morning of the coup, and I was called to report and I didn't. I waited until it was safe enough to go. So I was escorted every day to a house, to stay there and to come back every morning and report. Now if you're talking about the house arrest later on, during the general elections, that's much further along the way.
We'll get to that too. You must have been in fear for your life. So many other ministers had been shot to death.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh yeah. Everybody had fear for their lives, particularly anybody who was working in the old order. You had to have a fear for your life.
At some point you went to Kenya. Is that right?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. When I left the country, at the end of 1980, I actually went back to the World Bank. I was on leave from the World Bank when I came back in 1977. I went back to the World Bank for a year, but then I had a very good offer from Citicorp. That's what took me to Nairobi as a vice president of the Citibank regional office. I lived there for five years.
It sounds like you had a good job as Vice President of Citicorp in Kenya, where you were relatively safe. Why did you return to Liberia in the mid '80s?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Well, general elections were called for 1985, and I was persuaded to join in the organizing of a new political party. I went back to help get the party organized and get it registered, and that led to other things that got me in trouble. I made a speech in the U.S. and said some things.
You spoke out against Doe's regime while you were in the U.S.?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: There was a Liberian Independence Day celebration in 1985, July 26. I spoke in Philadelphia on behalf of the Association of Liberia in the United States. I was a keynote speaker at that celebration, and I said a few things about the government. I had been home trying to register the party, and I left and came to Philadelphia to make the statement, and then went back with the intent of just forgetting it, since the party was not registered, and going back to Nairobi. That's when I was put under house arrest and subsequently was jailed.
You were actually sentenced to ten years in prison, weren't you?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. I went before a military tribunal and they found me guilty, sentenced me to ten years. But I did not serve, because there was a protest, first by Liberian women, and there were protests in the U.S. The U.S. Congress also did a resolution threatening to cut off aid if political prisoners, which I was one of, were not released.
Do you think it was the pressure from the U.S. government that made Doe relent?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The U.S. government was one aspect, but you also had a lot of pressure from international organizations and people all over the world.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, welcomes the United States President, George W. Bush, to Liberia, 2008.
You ran for the Liberian Senate in 1985, didn't you?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: That's when I was in prison. When the party finally was registered and they couldn't get a deal, so they ran me as a senator and in the elections we won. We won handily. But we took a decision not to accept those seats because the elections were fraudulent.
That must have been a difficult decision, wasn't it?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: It is perceived to be difficult, but when you're trying to send a strong message that you're not going to participate in fraud, it's not that difficult to make.
Doesn't this sound like recent (2008) events in Zimbabwe?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Indeed it does. I suppose that's why Morgan Tsvangirai decided not to participate in the runoff.
Chinese President Hu Jintao welcomes Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 2006. (AP Images)
After you were released, did you go back to the U.S.? To Washington, D.C.?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. Obviously, I had to leave the Citibank job. I came back to Washington, D.C. and was associated with a bank called Equator Bank, part of the Hong Kong Bank Group, and I worked with them until '92.
Looking at your career, one constant is that you've always returned to Liberia. You were a successful banker in the United States, but you felt that pull to return.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I had already been a part of, if you may, a part of the "politics."
When you have colleagues who are shot on the beach, when you've gone back, and you're working in the government, and you form a political party, and you've gone through a tribunal and all of that, you've already invested a lot in political life, so it's not something you walk away from. Particularly if, as I feel, you feel the country deserved more, and you feel that with the right leadership that that country could be successful and its potential could be realized. So that was always part of the motivation.
You opposed the regime of Samuel Doe for so long. What finally became of President Doe?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: During the time when Mr. Taylor was invading the country — and then you had a splinter group with his group, and you had a Prince Johnson faction, and they were all assaulting the capital, so to speak — each one wanted to take power. They were able to persuade Doe to leave his mansion, where he had been holed up for quite some time, and to come out, and he was taken captive by the Prince Johnson group, one of the warlords, and he was killed. Well, he was tortured. It was a terrible, terrible thing. I saw the video of it and it's really dehumanized. The way he was killed was really — as bad as he was, nobody deserves that.
They filmed it deliberately to instill apprehension?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I guess to send a message to everybody else. But these people were… it's difficult for me to explain their thinking and their motivation, frankly.
They mutilated him, didn't they?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yeah.
You were, at first, supportive of Taylor, is that right?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh yes. Many Liberians, we had been mounting a campaign against Doe for years, without any success. When Taylor started, his was supposed to be a movement, and all the right things about fighting against dictatorship and bringing back justice and equity into the society. So it wasn't until several months into his campaign, into his movement, that we realized that his motives were selfish, and that he was there to take power and to enrich himself. As a matter of fact, some of our colleagues from the '85 elections who went back into his area for safety and for protection ended up being killed. That's when we started to distance from him.
And after that you campaigned for his removal?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh yeah. Sure. From the time we began to distance from him, we mounted a campaign against him. We had a huge campaign to get him out of power.
That took great courage, I would think, on your part, knowing what he is capable of.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Well, we had to do it. I had already invested a lot of my life in challenging. I had challenged the Doe regime. To a certain extent I even challenged the Tolbert regime, which I was a part of. So taking on Taylor was like carrying on an unfinished business. The unfinished business was really to be able to get the dictators out of the country. To get into a system where people had a choice. To start the process of reconstruction and renewal — a process that is just starting now, but with a legacy that is very, very difficult. With violence implanted into the value system, and lawlessness being a part, it's difficult, but it's a process that we had to embark on. And even though making that transition is difficult, and going to be difficult, but it's the only way to move the country on to the right track, the track that we're beginning to move along.
Could you tell us about building the Unity Party?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: We organized — there was a party already there from '85 — it was a part of what we called the Grand Coalition. At that time I was a member of another party that we formed called the Liberian Action Party. I was part of that. So when I came back to run on the Unity Party ticket — this was in the 1997 elections, when Charles Taylor was making a bid following a small cessation of the war — we then built a party around me and my candidacy, and had a very strong showing, we thought. Didn't have as much money as he, and didn't have access to the media or to the kinds of resources that enabled us to travel around the country, so Mr. Taylor declared himself the winner.
He declared himself the winner?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The official results gave him a large percentage, with me as a distant second. But after that, we began to build a party. Of course, I had to leave again. I had to go into exile. I came back and was back and forth several times, based upon when I thought it was safe to come, and when I felt it was unsafe to be there and had to quickly run out. But this time I settled right in Abidjan, where I could keep my finger on the political pulse, and use the proximity of being close to home to begin to do advocacy among the African leaders to point out that the situation in the country was not good, that we were headed for disaster. Mounted, along with others, an international effort to bring pressure on Taylor. And finally, of course, we all ended up in Accra for the peace talks. And once I came back then, of course, we mobilized the party to prepare ourselves for the 2005 elections.
Charles Taylor's regime in Liberia eventually disintegrated. How did he finally relinquish power?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: As you know, Taylor was taken out of the country by the West African leaders. He went into exile in Nigeria for some time, and subsequently, he was under an indictment by the UN Special Court for crimes committed in Sierra Leone, and ultimately the Nigerians turned him over to the United Nations, which took him to the Netherlands. He's on trial in The Hague right now.
What do you think will happen?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh, I don't know. I have no idea. We watched the proceedings of the trial and the different testimonies that are going on. How the judges will finally come out, I really don't know. I just hope he doesn't come back to Liberia, that's all.
In 2005 you became a presidential candidate yourself. What prompted you to become a candidate for president yourself?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I was a candidate in '97. I didn't win. I felt I'd earned the stripes and I could compete as effectively as anybody else. I'd gone through all the trials and tribulations of political life and also had enough, I believe, international exposure, professionalism. And also, I didn't think there was anybody who could be as competitive, given my experience, background in some things. I thought I was a formidable candidate, and I proved to be right.
Could you tell us about your opponent, George Weah?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Mr. Weah was an icon in sports. He was a sports hero. He had won the football of the year for Europe, for Africa several times. He was the idol of the young people, and our nation is very young. So he really was a very, very strong candidate. Nobody figured we could beat him, because he was strong, and like I say, he's revered by the young people. But we figured we could find where the weaknesses were, and the weaknesses were that he didn't have an education. He hadn't really done enough schooling, and we played on that, on the basis that most of our market women sit in the sun and rain to send their children to school to get an education, and certainly they wanted something better for people to aspire to. And the people underestimated the power of women. You know, grassroots women who mobilized because they felt for the first time a woman was competitive enough, with the courage and the competence and the background to do so, and they mobilized. Now Mr. Weah was a very strong candidate, no doubt. In the first round he came out ahead of everybody, but clearly he didn't have a clean win.
What would he have had to do to win? Have a clear majority?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: He would have had to have 50 percent plus one. That's what our constitution requires: 50 percent plus one. So he didn't, and the constitution says that if you don't get 50 percent plus one then the two persons with the highest number of votes go into a runoff. I was second under him, so we both went into a runoff. But we had great strategy in our runoff. We ran a door-to-door campaign and the women rose to the challenge.
Perhaps the women of America could learn something from your experience. What about men? Didn't you need the votes of men as well to get to 50 plus one?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: No doubt. And some of the young people too, even though, like I said, he was the idol of the young. But that was mainly the street kids, the uneducated, because the university students felt differently, and many of them rallied to us. The university students felt that an education did matter, and to be able to run a country you had to have a certain level of knowledge. So we were able to get them to be a part of our campaign.
Given the two civil wars that had transpired, all the violence and the economic freefall over 25 years, this would seem to be the most difficult job in the world. Yet you obviously wanted it very much.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Simply because I do believe in the potential of our country, and I felt if anyone else had the fortitude and the capability and the international contact to be able to make it work, that I could. I still believe in that, and I think the progress we've made in these two years does support that view.
What were your first priorities for healing the wounds of your country, both economically and socially?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: To really have an inclusive government, first of all. You know, I could have taken the winner-take-all position, and I'm still criticized by my own party today because of that. But if you look into my cabinet, you'll see people who were presidential candidates, vice presidential candidates, leading people in the other opposition parties and whatnot. I was the first one to send a signal that no matter who won, that the country needed the participation and the support of everybody. Some of the other things that will enable us to achieve our objective, we're still making small progress. Not enough, like jobs for the young people, education for the young people that were affected, thousands and thousands of them. We did complete what is called a DDR — or Demobilization Disarmament Reintegration program — of over 100,000 of them. But still, getting them into school, getting them skills, getting them jobs, is still an ongoing process and still a challenge.
What is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: That's just ensuring that the resources that come from our mines are properly accounted for, properly used, with the public being fully informed on what those resources are and where those resources are applied, show the proper budgetary process and whatnot. And the process is monitored by a civil society group to make sure that the checks and balances — the information comes from the government institutions concerned, but that information has to flow to this group that comprises civil society people. We also asked the companies involved to participate, so that they can give the information directly to the watchdog group, and we willingly joined it, because it helps us to make our commitment to accountability and transparency. We also, even though they say "extractive industries," which are mainly the mines — we have iron ore, and gold and diamond — but we also added forestry, by our own voluntary action, because forestry had been a source of the misuse of resources in the past, and became part of what fueled the regional war through using those resources for arms.
How do you address the problems of young people in your country who have experienced all this war and violence? How do you change attitudes and get rid of lawlessness as a way of life?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I think it's a combination of many things. For one thing, we have to give these kids some skills. We have to give them back their dignity. Dignity means they should be able to earn a livelihood without having to resort to stealing or begging or extortion. I grant you that for many of them who are hardcore, very difficult to even get them to be willing to go to school and to obtain a skill, because they are the only way they are used to. But if we can get the critical mass of them to begin to get a job, and it's starting to happen, and begin to go to school and to appreciate the fact that you can go very far. Right now, you're in a changed environment where knowledge and skills is what gets you what you want, there's not going to be many opportunities. On the other hand, we also have to have penalties so that if you commit criminal acts rather than using the opportunity to earn, there's a penalty to be had. So we also use that. Counseling is necessary. We still have a challenge there to change the mindset of those who knew no other way. Like I say, that's still a challenge for us. We're still trying to work on that.
We have some similar issues in our inner cities, of course, where there's so much despair, and there's been so much violence, and there's inadequate education. Since assuming the presidency, you've also dealt with the issue of rape.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. Even before my administration started, the Association of Female Lawyers — given that incidences of rape are so high in our country — had already got legislation passed. It was already a criminal offense, but now it's a crime against humanity, as recognized by the United Nations. But also they made the penalty life imprisonment by this new law. So what I did was ensure that we try to enforce the law, and also start a program of education with the families. We still have problems with that. Enforcing the law in a judicial system that is weak and that is still very male-dominated is difficult.
Why? Do you think the judges are sympathetic to the perpetrators?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: They don't think the penalty equals the crime, unfortunately. Also, it's a bailable offense, and because our correctional system has a lot of weaknesses, human rights groups help them apply for habeas corpus every time and they get out. So one of the things I'm committed to do is also to amend that law to make it a non-bailable offense. That would keep them in prison until such time as they have gone to trial. More importantly, we have to work with the families for disclosure, and preventing poor families from keeping silent, because small amounts of money are offered to them to buy their silence. The kids are young. That's very disturbing, talking about three-year-olds up to ten-year-olds. Very, very sad.
There's still a stigma attached to a rape victim. Even when they're older, sometimes it's difficult to come forward.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: To the victim? Absolutely. There's no doubt. In addition to the physical harm, the stigma is there, and that helps to bring the silence on the part of the family.
What about women's rights violations in Liberia, generally speaking?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: There's not too much of that in Liberia. There are some social barriers, and much of those social barriers, even today, are being removed. Women's rights violations? Domestically there can be a lot of that, but by law, women have full rights. There are times when they may not know of their rights, particularly the illiterate. The uneducated may not be aware, and we need to do more to educate them and sensitize them to their rights. But the rights are there by law.
What about the issue of human rights violations today?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: There's a lot of that too. Sometimes security forces were accustomed to excesses, mob action too. People take the law into their own hands because they don't have as much confidence in the judicial system, so we have a lot of that.
What do you mean by mob action?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh yeah. For example, if a thief is caught and they feel that the thief, as experience shows, may get away or bribe his way out. Mob actions, sometimes they are very violent, have even killed if they feel that their rights have been infringed upon by policemen or security people. Mob action will sometimes go unchallenged. They've also destroyed police stations when they felt that justice was not done. We have to instill in them that one crime does not deserve another. There's a rule of law that they all have to subscribe to. But again, it comes from the violence that has been put into the value system: you solve every problem through violence and may the stronger one prevail.
What is the situation with HIV-AIDS in your country?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: It's been on an increase recently. We are just completing a census, so I can't tell. The number I've heard is somewhere like five percent, six percent. I'm not sure whether that's the right number because they have varied, but we know that there's been increasing cases, particularly among the young population and young girls and we're trying to combat that with the support of the Global Fund. There's an HIV-AIDS program that gives the retroviral treatment to people, and of course there are sensitization programs to encourage prevention. But it is a problem, and it's something that we have to continue to monitor. We've established an AIDS commission. I chair that commission, to bring full attention to that.
What has been the effect of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: They're still at work. I think they've done a lot through testimony to get a lot of information. It's also opened up old wounds, because in those testimonies lots of people have been accused. But it's still part of the cleansing process so it's ongoing. They're trying to complete their testimonies and that report is due in by the end of the year. The mandate enables them to make recommendations that would lead to justice in those cases where wide-scale amnesty does not determine the best course of action. The mandate also could call for some form of reparations for communities that have been affected. So we wait for them. I think it was a necessary process. It has caused some problems in our society, like I said, through testimonies that accuse people — some people holding high elective offices and all of that — but it's a process that needed to be done and we'll see what comes when the report is made.
Is the process complicated by having some of the people who formerly opposed you serving in your government?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yeah, but some of the people we're talking about have elected positions and there's nothing we can do about that. They were allowed to run; our election laws did not prohibit them from running. They ran, whether they ran on a platform of fear or whether they ran on a platform of promise — it's probably both — but they won. And many of them are sitting in the legislature. They're there. We have to deal with them. We have to work with them.
How do you go about rebuilding an infrastructure that was so devastated?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: You make an assessment of where we are. That's what we've done. You set your infrastructure targets, and we started what we call our "150-Day Action Plan" that brought back lights into the capital city for the first time in 14 years, and brought some water into the homes for the first time. Now we've laid out a full action plan on our poverty reduction strategy, where we've identified how many roads we will build, and how many schools we're going to build or renovate, and how many clinics, and we've got them time-bound. That's what we work with. Also, our partners on this, and we've been getting good support from the United States, from the European Commission, from many of the bilaterals, the Scandinavian countries that have — if there's any constraint, it's sometimes implementation is slower than we would want it, because we've got to follow all the process and procedures of all the many donors that support us. I always call it "the long road between commitment and cash." But we're traveling that road, and we're beginning to see the roads are being repaired right now. So many schools are being reopened, and clinics. We hope to expand electricity some more within the next few months, and more water. We're talking about rural electricity, so in another couple of years I think we will have restored many of the facilities that were destroyed during the war.
You made a commencement address recently at Dartmouth College here in the United States. What was your message to the graduating students?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh, that had to do with leadership. That's where I encourage and pointed to the example of one or two people that I considered high-profile examples of courage and leadership. Eleanor Roosevelt was one of them. Rosa Parks is another.
What are the most important qualities for leadership? What would you tell a young person who is interested in going into public service?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Example. First of all, you have to set the example. And that example has to show in integrity, courage, ability to make decisions, competence. And then, inspiration and motivation. You've got to be able to carry people with you, and to set your goals very clearly, and to have them agree with those and to motivate them to achieve the goals that have been set. Listening. Being able to respect other's views and take those into account. And sometimes, as leaders, we're also guilty with not giving due recognition. That motivates people by telling them when they've done a good job sometimes, and I'm guilty of that too. Sometimes we see the faults so often, and then not see the contribution.
Over the years, while you've continued to show such strong leadership, was there a moment when you really felt it was all over? Was there a time when you wouldn't be able to do what you wanted to do, or wouldn't even be able to survive?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I've never reached the point of hopelessness where I felt I wouldn't survive. I've reached many points of disappointments. After the 1997 elections, for example, after all the effort we made and the results that were announced. "It's an impossible task. We're dealing with a warlord who has immense power, who has the support." The first thing one gets is, "Forget it. Give it up. Go back into international professional life." It took a little bit of resolve and reflection to say, "You can't give up. You've got to stay the course and suffer the consequences, the indignities and the difficulties." But I think that was a low point, right after those elections when everything just seemed like an exercise in futility.
Where do you suppose your capacity for leadership comes from? Was it instilled in you by your parents?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I think it comes from childhood. It comes from my parents, from the experiences that they had. My father, in a way, was a leader, since he was one of the first native persons in our legislature.
What was his role?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: He was a lawyer, but he was also, like I said, the first one to represent the indigenous population in our legislature. That set him up as a leader, and so he moved around in that circle. My mother was a teacher, but that also enabled her to exhibit some leadership by bringing all the — so many of the children in the neighborhood remember her and the role she played. She subsequently became a pastor, and that put her in a leadership position in the church. So I suppose it's that upbringing that maybe set me on that path.
Did you have siblings?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. Three siblings. One is with me here. A sister and two brothers. A brother died earlier.
I gather that education was very important in your family?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Very important, coming from the background they did. As I said, they came from essentially indigenous families but were brought up by settler families. And the main reason for their own parents giving them up to other families was to ensure that they had an education, recognizing that in our environment in those days, without an education — since you did not come from elitist background — you wouldn't go very far. So in our family hard work and education were the two things that were stressed.
Your grandparents came from different parts of the world. Where were they from?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: My maternal grandfather came from Germany, and he was one of the many German traders that penetrated the West African coast and did business in one of our rural areas. But during World War II when the allies were fighting Germany, Liberia, being so close to the United States, with the emancipated slaves having founded the country, we identified with the Allied forces, and also declared war on Germany and expelled all of the Germans who were in the country. So my grandfather left the country when my mother was at a very, very early age.
Just him, not his wife?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: No, not his wife, just him. His wife was my grandmother, my mother's mother. He left the country and left her with my grandmother, who was an illiterate market woman, a native woman, and they never heard from him again. We never pursued that heritage. My mother's mother, as I said, was a native marketeer, and both of my father's parents were indigenous.
Wasn't your grandfather on your father's side also a leader?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes, he was a chief. He was a Gola chief. So absolutely, that really set him apart. So the leadership factor comes from a long history. It's part of the heritage.
The Gola people have been in Liberia for a long time, haven't they?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes, they were one of the original tribes that settled there sometime early in the continent's history. They were some of the first that came down and settled in that area.
Were you a serious student when you were growing up?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes, I was. I wasn't a valedictorian or anything like that, but serious enough to have made every class and to have been one of the outspoken ones in our graduation, our high school graduation. It didn't work out that way, but (I was) one recognized as one of those that would go far in terms of a profession. It ended up that way, but it didn't start that way since I got married right after high school and had four children before going back to college.
It sounds like you weren't thinking much about a career when you got out of high school.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: No, I wasn't. I quickly settled into marriage life which — as a high school education — that didn't mean very much in terms of a profession. And with four children born successively almost every year, I became a housewife very fast. It took a while, and perhaps driven by seeing some of my high school classmates leave the country and go and pursue a college education and all becoming professionals, that really drove me to go back to college at some point, and that started a whole new career.
What did your husband do?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: He was an agriculturalist. As a matter of fact, he had come back from the University of Wisconsin, where he'd done work in agriculture, and that's how we got married. And then, after our fourth son was born, it was the year we both went back. That's when I went back to college, and he went back to do graduate work, again at the University of Wisconsin.
Did you bring the whole family to the United States?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: No, no, no. Fortunately we have, in Africa, the extended family system. There's no way we both could have gone to school in the U.S. with four young children. So two got left with my mother and two with his mother. That's how we were able to go back to school.
That's quite a sacrifice to make for education, isn't it?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: It is. It is quite a sacrifice, because you leave your children at an early age and you miss the time, those early days of their childhood. It's a sacrifice that so many of us in the underdeveloped countries have to make if you want to pursue a profession. In our case, you can always come back and try to make it up. I'm glad that our family was able to make up and to see them all go through college, and now married and in professional life.
They've given you grandchildren as well, haven't they?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The grandchildren are moving up. They're beginning to complete high school and getting to college. They're on the way!
Did you enjoy reading books when you were a kid?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. That was part of our upbringing in those days. Unfortunately, today, most of the children, it is too difficult to get them to read these days because they're all hooked on television, DVDs and all those things. But in our days, all you had other than sports and other types of entertainment, was to read.
Do any books stand in your memory as being especially wonderful experiences?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: You mean way back then, when a child? Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and all those things that kids read all over the world. Yeah.
All books in English?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yes. English is the official language in Liberia.
Were there teachers that were important to you as you came up through high school?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh, very much so. Some of the teachers that taught us in high school were really missionaries, from the Methodist church. Many of them had left the United States and were serving in the school. One or two of them are still alive today. There's been some contact recently to try to re-establish contact with them. But I do remember — Robert Griffin is the name — so many others.
It must be fulfilling for your teachers to see their student become president of the country.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I think so. The one I mentioned that has re-established contact, as a matter of fact, did write a note to congratulate and to say, "How pleased I am. We didn't know, in those years when we were helping you to get an education, that you would reach where you are today." I guess some credit must go to them too. They must have moved us in the right direction.
How did you decide to study accounting? Had you enjoyed math?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Not particularly. In school I thought I would be an English teacher like my mother, but then after I got married I had to work. We had to support four children. So I got a job in a small garage, an automobile outfit — automobile spare parts and repair shop — and I happen to have been assigned to someone who was an accountant, as his helper. So I picked up a little bit of bookkeeping there, and I suppose that's what set me on that track.
You turned out to be pretty good at it, after all.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Well, yes. It's the one sort of after-school occupation that I had, and I was able to pick it up quite readily. So when I went to college I just pursued it. I already had some rudimentary knowledge about it, having been exposed to it through work, so it was easy to just continue on that path. And since then I just remained in the financial and economic field.
It's a long way from helping an accountant at an auto repair shop to working with the World Bank.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yeah. It's a stretch. But in between, I picked up a lot of things. To get to the World Bank, I had already left the shop. That was a long time ago. I had gone and finished college, I had come back from college. I was working in the Treasury Department, what we now call the Ministry of Finance, and had actually worked with people who exposed me to things other than accounting, but things that had to do with economics and management and all of that. That really prepared me to go back to graduate school, and in graduate school I did economics. That's how come I did my graduate work at Harvard.
So you worked as an assistant minister of finance before Harvard?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I was a special assistant to the Minister of Finance in '69 and then went off to graduate work at the Economics Institute of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and then to Harvard, where I completed my master's. Then I came back as a deputy minister, didn't I? No, it wasn't Assistant Minister before. When I went off I had been Assistant Minister, you're correct. Sometimes I get those dates mixed up.
I can well imagine. So once again you had to leave the kids in Liberia when you went off to graduate school?
By this time I was divorced and trying to get back to school. Having to work after coming back from undergraduate school put a good strain on the family and ultimately there were domestic problems, domestic violence. I had already had a divorce before I went into graduate work.
How old were your kids at that point?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh they were what, born between '57 and '61. That would make them what, 15? Somewhere between 10 and 15 years old.
Did they stay with their grandparents again?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: They stayed, yeah.
So are you saying that your ex-husband actually became violent at times?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Yeah, there was domestic violence.
Was there any problem getting a divorce at that time in Liberia?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: No. He didn't protest. Had there been a protest maybe there could have been some problems.
By turning to a master's in public administration at Harvard, it sounds like you already were starting to think about being an administrator, being a leader of an organization.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Well, I already was. By the time I got there I had already, in a way, established my leadership in the Ministry where I worked. The opportunity to get a scholarship to go into graduate work was on the basis of having already established, with performance, that I was on the way up and that the potential there was good. So yeah, I had already earned that.
We've read that you are alternately referred to as "the Iron Lady," and sometimes as "Ma," as the mother of your people. Do you identify with one of these or the other?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I think in our environment you have to be both. On the one hand, you have to be strong enough to take the hard decisions that classify you — characterize you — as an Iron Lady. Meaning, in the midst of what may be formidable forces, you have to make the right decision and stand by it with the course it takes. But then we're also in a society of many young people, children. Children who had lost all hope, and just a few years ago you saw nothing but despair in their eyes. You want to be able to reach out to them with the sensitivity of a mother and grandmother. So in that environment you have — and I'm so glad that one of the things I always said was — to make the children smile again. Whereas before, if they saw a presidential convoy approaching, they would all run helter-skelter, because they didn't know what would happen to their parents. Security agents coming to look for… but today, if the siren sounds, they all gather on the streets, and most times I get down off the… so the "Ma" comes from that. It's a nice name for a grandmother.
Is there any evidence of Al Qaeda activity in Liberia?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: I don't know if Al Qaeda is in Liberia, frankly. We've heard rumors in the past, during the Taylor era, when he was doing dealings with a lot of shady characters that he had. But to say that we know of Al Qaeda being in Liberia today, I don't think so. I haven't had any evidence of that at all, and I'm always in touch with the U.S. Ambassador and all who have intelligence. If that were ever brought to us we would rule it out very quickly. I doubt it.
What are you most proud of so far? I know you have a long way to go in your career.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The progress we've made at home. For example, our debt issue. We inherited a 3.7 billion debt for our population and our export earnings. Today a majority of that debt has been cancelled and we've completed our first program with the IMF (International Monetary Fund). And also the restoration of hope. Today, you know, our image of being a pariah state, a failed state, has turned around completely. Whereas people — Liberians — were afraid to carry a Liberian passport, because you'd be seen as this nation of death and destruction. Today, Liberians are very proud to carry their passport because everybody sees Liberia as beginning to be uplifted and beginning to become a possible model of success, a post-conflict success story. I'm very proud of that turnaround in our image.
Thank you very much, Madam President. It was a real privilege to talk with you.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Thank you.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Gallery
This page last revised on November 26, 2018
Poet and Historian
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Pioneer of Civil Rights
Constitutional Court of South Africa


Who doesn't love the Italy of postcards? Perhaps you dream of a raven-haired girl wearing sunglasses and riding a Vespa down a narrow stone street. Or maybe you think of a flock of sheep racing across a road that was engineered 2,000-years ago. Possibly, you dream of the Vatican's majestic shrines.
And if this picturesque Italy is the Italy you're planning to visit soon, you can submit any trip-planning questions you may have right now by clicking here. Our Rome-based expert on Italy, Christopher Winner, will provide answers at BudgetTravel.com at Noon Eastern next Tuesday.
But don't take the postcard pictures of Italy at face value. Or else you might be surprised when you get a glimpse of the real Italy.
Case in point, #1: The fashion designer Valentino is celebrating his fashion house's 45th anniversary with an unusual exhibit. Next to a large white marble altar erected in 9 B.C., known as the Ara Pacis, Valentino has staged about 200 female mannequins. They're arranged in prayerful poses, wearing his designer clothes in red and black.
To understand how, well, un-American this event is, consider what it would be like if the Ford Motor Company showcased some of its vintage automobiles inside the Lincoln Memorial.
But in Italy, this mixing of the state's most precious cultural treasures and a modern marketing campaign is roundly applauded. Even the president of Italy and the mayor of Rome visited the exhibit.
Whatever you think of the event, the Ara Pacis--with or without the Valentino exhibit--is one of Rome's coolest new attractions, as Budget Travel reported in this story.
This month, there's another--and less flattering--example of how Italy can feel foreign to American sensibilities.
For more than 60 days now, there has been no garbage pick-up in the southern province of Naples and in the southern region of Campania. The reason is a worker's strike. Strikes, of course, are one of Italy's national pastimes.
Huge piles of trash lie uncollected. Some desperate residents are setting trash piles on fire, occasionally creating toxic clouds. Americans are being advised by authorities to avoid these areas this summer.
Don't worry too much, though. Trash is being collected properly where U.S. tourists usually visit in the North.
Still, the images of trash piled up in the street reminds us of an Italy we often forget about, an Italy beyond the Tuscan sun.
Tuscany is an ancient, literary setting. It risks being perceived as a sort of Nativity scene, with statuettes of picturesque little Tuscans, busy doing this and that, and visitors, like the three kings, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Especially gold, but cash and all major credit cards are also welcome.


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J.D./Master's in Finance Program allows law students to gain expertise in finance
Will Belton J.D./M.S.F. '16 didn't start Vanderbilt Law School intending to pursue a dual degree in finance. After earning his undergraduate degree in psychology at Morehouse College, Belton played professional basketball in Qatar for two years and spent two years working as a bankruptcy and credit counselor in Atlanta before deciding to pursue a career in law.
By his 2L year, Belton knew he wanted to focus on transactional practice. From his perspective, Vanderbilt's innovative J.D./Master's in Finance, offered by the law school in conjunction with the Owen Graduate School of Management, provided an irresistible opportunity to gain valuable expertise in finance and accounting that would inform his law practice without extending his studies beyond three academic years.
After he graduates in 2016, Belton plans to join Baker Donelson, where he has worked in the corporate and securities group for the past two summers. He believes the teamwork and delegation skills he has learned through his coursework at Owen, where students work in teams to complete and present projects, will enable him to do a better job of structuring complex financial transactions for his firm's clients. "The deals are huge, there are lots of moving parts, and you have to parse them out to members of a team," he said. "Your duties on one deal may be different than your duties on another. I've learned a lot about delegation and how to break down a project into manageable parts by working on team projects at Owen."
The J.D./M.S.F. dual degree allows students to gain expertise that is highly valued by law firms and their business clients, but which is rare among law students graduating into today's legal employment market, according to Randall Thomas, who directs Vanderbilt's Law and Business Program. "Lawyers in transactional practice must have a good understanding of accounting and finance," Thomas said. "The businesspeople they work with are quite conversant in those languages, and they expect their lawyers will understand the issues. The J.D./M.S.F. allows students to get the same technical training in finance and accounting their clients receive, and they study with MBA students—their future clients."
Thomas worked with the deans and faculties of VLS and Owen to structure the dual-degree program, but many of the pieces were already in place at both schools. For example, VLS already offered introductory courses in finance and accounting as second-year elective for students interested in working as transactional lawyers. "Students typically take these courses if they lack a background in business and finance," Thomas said. "The J.D./M.S.F. program allows them to augment these basic skills by taking a full semester at Owen during the fall of their third year to get a thorough grounding in the principles of finance and accounting."
Owen also had a robust master's in finance program, and its former director, Kate Barraclough, had worked closely with Thomas and other faculty at both schools to set up the program. "It's rigorous," she stressed. "Students take some of our most challenging finance classes—the more quantitative classes—because we wanted to make sure all the Owen credit hours really counted toward finance." J.D./M.S.F. students take their Owen classes with students in its M.S.F. program.
After spending their fifth semester studying finance and accounting at Owen, J.D./M.S.F. students split their class load between the law school and Owen during their final semester.
Dan Ward, J.D./M.S.F. '16, plans to join Calfee Halter & Griswold in Cleveland, Ohio, where he will focus on patent law, after graduating in May. Ward, who earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Miami University of Ohio, chose the program as a way to gain insight into the business world without adding a year to his studies. "This program is an excellent way to socialize yourself in the business context, to know what your clients are thinking and how to relate to them, and build value," he said.
He also appreciates the program's strong emphasis on the mechanics of financial transactions and the exposure to finance. "The coursework at Owen is hard-core finance," he said, "and the networking opportunities are great because the people you're working with everyday there are going to be at investment banks and firms. On a practical level, that was a great value-add for me."
Ward applied to the program after talking with Kevin Saunders J.D./M.S.F. '14, an associate with Baker Hostetler based in Cleveland, Ohio. He also discussed the program with the partners at Calfee Halter & Griswold. "They loved the idea," he recalled. "It doesn't take extra time to complete law school, and it's one more asset I bring."
A member of the first class of J.D./M.S.F graduates, Saunders comes from a third-generation family business background and earned an undergraduate degree in accounting at Ohio State before deciding on Vanderbilt Law School. He found the program a perfect fit because it combined his two career passions, business and law. He had already taken four credit hours at Owen as law electives when he heard about the J.D./M.S.F. program. "I'm a huge proponent," he said. "It really made that third year count."
After two years of law classes focused on developing critical thinking, writing and speaking skills, Saunders found the added dimension of the M.S.F. coursework "intense but refreshing—it allowed you to think quantitatively and develop the other side of your brain." He also believes his finance coursework enhanced his preparation for working on team projects at Baker Hostetler. "You don't work on an M&A deal or due diligence project alone—you're part of a team of three or four other attorneys," he said. "Learning how to work in a group dynamic and manage personalities and skills to achieve a final outcome transfers over to the practice of law quite well."
Another 2014 graduate, Patrick Tricker, believes his J.D./M.S.F gave him an edge in the job market. "The partners at my firm were really impressed with the degree—especially the heavily mathematical, quantitative component," he recalled. Now an associate with Davis & Harman in Washington, D.C., where he focuses on tax work on life insurance products, Tricker has found his finance training valuable when working with clients. "We deal with spreadsheets created by actuaries, and it really helps if you fully understand the concepts and math that connect the cells," he said.
According to Dean Chris Guthrie, the program has also attracted interest from alumni who have generously provided financial support for J.D./M.S.F. students.. "Owen is literally right next door to us, which is another advantage," Guthrie said.
The program grew out of discussions between Guthrie and Owen Dean Eric Johnson shortly after Johnson's arrival in 2013. Both deans say that the program expands a natural partnership between the two schools as well as increasing the options available to students interested in both business and law.
In addition to appealing to law students interested in careers in corporate law, Guthrie believes the program's specific focus on finance and accounting will give its graduates an added edge and a wider range of career opportunities. "I am very bullish on the opportunities the J.D./M.S.F. program creates for a select group of Vanderbilt Law students," Guthrie said.
The J.D./M.S.F. builds on the law school's existing Law and Business program, which offers law students a specialization certificate in business. VLS has offered a four-year J.D./M.B.A. program in conjunction with Owen since the 1980s.
Prospective students must take the GMAT and the LSAT, and apply separately and be admitted to both the J.D. program by the law school and the M.S.F. program by the Owen Graduate School of Management. The J.D./M.S.F. is a six-semester program; students spend their first four semesters at the law school, their fifth semester at Owen, and their final semester at the law school. "Because J.D./M.S.F. students take their first classes at Owen in their fifth semester, prospective students may apply for admission to the M.S.F. either at the same time they apply for admission to the J.D. program or as first- or second-year law students," said Todd Morton, the law school's dean of admissions. "Space is limited, however, so we encourage J.D. applicants who know they're interested in this dual degree to apply to the M.S.F. program before entering law school, but we also welcome applications from first- and second-year law students for any remaining slots."