Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was born on October 29, 1938 in Monrovia the capital of Liberia. For seven years from 1948 to 1955 she studied accounts and economics at the College of West Africa in Monrovia. Then when she married James Sirleaf she went to America and got a degree from the University of Colorado then she read economics in Harvard and got a masters degree public administration from 1969 to 1971. When she got back to Liberia she worked in William Tolbert's government the True Whig Party. Then on April 20th 1980 Sergeant Samuel Doe took power in a military coup and shot Tolbert and a few members of his cabinet. To avoid death she chose exile to Kenya, then when Doe declared himself president she came back and was put under house arrest for campaigning against him. Then she had to leave Liberia again to avoid 10 years of prison. She returned when Doe was killed she came back and ran against Taylor for president and lost miserably. Then when he left he left his power to Deputy Moses Blah, but when the 2005 elections occurred she ran again and won. She is currently the President of Liberia.