Obama Says Women-Led Governments Would Do Better

Former President Barack Obama said he believes governments would perform better if women were in charge for about two years, offering the view during a September 21 discussion at Salem State University in Massachusetts. Obama presented the idea as a personal, hypothetical judgment, not a policy proposal or a claim backed by comparative evidence. The conversation with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin covered leadership and opportunities for younger generations. Obama recalled imagining the effects of women leading governments around the world for a limited period. He said he did not expect the governments to be perfect, but believed they would do better. The sources provide no evidence assessing that prediction. Obama has expressed a similar view before. At a leadership event in Singapore in 2019, he said he believed countries would see improvements if women led them for two years. His remarks at Salem State revisited that position as part of a broader discussion of who should hold influence in public life. He also argued that everyday relationships among Americans were less divided than national politics and media coverage might suggest.