The character arc of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Born 29 October 1938 in Monrovia. Between then and now sit a marriage at seventeen, an economics degree taken as far as Harvard, a 1980 coup that sent her into exile, a prison cell for criticising the regime, an election lost badly before one was won, the presidency of Liberia as Africa's first elected woman head of state, a Nobel Peace Prize, the Ebola years, and a handover of power without a shot fired. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf?
Exiled and jailed, she came home to lead.
She trained as an economist, taking the study from Monrovia to the University of Colorado and then to Harvard, and she came home to serve in Liberia's finance ministry. The 1980 coup that killed President Tolbert ended that chapter and sent her into exile. When she came back and spoke against the military government of Samuel Doe, she was jailed, once under a ten year sentence for sedition, and left the country again. For most of two decades her career ran through the World Bank, the United Nations and international banking, always with Liberia in view.
In 1997 she ran for president and lost heavily to Charles Taylor, taking under ten percent of the vote to his seventy five. She did not stop. After the civil war ended she returned to a broken country, ran again, and in the November 2005 runoff she won. On 16 January 2006 she was inaugurated as Africa's first elected woman head of state. In 2011 she shared the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing women's part in peace-building, was re-elected, and soon faced the Ebola epidemic that tested every part of the state she led.
She has said, in words often quoted back to her, that if your dreams do not frighten you they are not big enough. What her line shows is closer to patience than to fear: an election lost badly in 1997, then the same office won eight years on. In January 2018 she handed power to George Weah, a peaceful transfer of the kind Liberia had rarely known, and she now runs a centre in Monrovia that prepares African women for public leadership.
The moments
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's timeline.
The 1930s
Born in Monrovia
Milestone. Born in the Liberian capital, of mixed Gola, Kru and German descent, one of four children.
The 1950s
Married at seventeen
Everyday. She married James Sirleaf young and had four sons. The marriage later ended, and she kept the name.
The 1970s
A Harvard economics degree
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She studied economics in the United States and took a master's at Harvard, then carried it back to Liberia.
The 1980s
A coup, then exile
Setback, and it changed her direction. The coup that killed President Tolbert ended the government she served in and sent her out of the country.
Imprisoned for speaking out
Setback, and it changed her direction. She criticised the military regime and was jailed, once under a ten year sentence for sedition, before exile again.
The 1990s
Lost the vote to Taylor
Setback, and it changed her direction. She ran for president and finished second with under ten percent, against Charles Taylor's seventy five. She stayed in the fight.
The 2000s
Stay abroad, or go home
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: return home and run, taken, or stay in international finance. She went home, won the November 2005 runoff, and was sworn in on 16 January 2006 as Africa's first elected woman head of state.
Won the presidency
Milestone, and it changed everything. After the civil war she ran again and took the runoff with fifty nine percent, eight years after the loss.
First elected woman leader
Milestone, and it changed everything. She was sworn in as President of Liberia, the first woman elected to lead an African nation.
The 2010s
The Nobel Peace Prize
Milestone, and it changed everything. She shared the prize with Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman for advancing women's part in peace-building work.
Re-elected for a second term
Milestone. Voters returned her for a second six year term, weeks after the Nobel was announced.
Led Liberia through Ebola
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She declared a state of emergency and steered the national response as the epidemic reached Liberia.
A peaceful handover of power
Milestone, and it changed everything. She stepped down after two terms and handed office to George Weah, a peaceful transfer rare in Liberia's history.
Founded a leadership centre
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Out of office, she opened a centre in Monrovia to prepare African women for public leadership.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is already everywhere: the women she is training to lead, and every person told they had lost for good who decided the count was not final.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers spans nine decades and is still adding chapters. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Britannica, biography of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
- The Nobel Peace Prize 2011, nobelprize.org.
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President, 2010.
- The Liberian presidential election records, 1997, 2005 and 2011.
- The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, ejscenter.org.