Former United States President Barack Obama has said he believes governments around the world would perform better if women were placed in charge for two years.
Obama made the remarks during a conversation with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin at Salem State University in Massachusetts on September 21. A clip of the discussion was shared by C-SPAN on Friday and has since circulated widely online.
Recalling a thought he had while serving as president, Obama said he had sometimes imagined what would happen if women temporarily led every government.
“Even when I was president, I sometimes fantasised about, if you put women in charge of every government for like two years and then just kind of saw, all right, how are things going?” he said.
Obama added that he did not expect such an arrangement to produce perfect governments but believed the results would be better.
“I have a strong belief that things would — they wouldn’t be perfect. But they’d be better. I’m confident about that. I really do,” he said.
During the discussion, Obama also addressed political divisions in the United States, arguing that Americans at the community level may be less divided than political debates and media coverage suggest.
The former president has expressed a similar view before. In 2019, while speaking at a leadership event in Singapore, he suggested that countries could see improvements if women were given the opportunity to run every country for two years.
Obama’s latest comments were made in the context of a broader discussion about leadership, political renewal and creating opportunities for younger generations to take positions of influence.
Former United States President Barack Obama has said he believes governments around the world would perform better if women were placed in charge for two years.
Obama made the remarks during a conversation with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin at Salem State University in Massachusetts on September 21. A clip of the discussion was shared by C-SPAN on Friday and has since circulated widely online.
Recalling a thought he had while serving as president, Obama said he had sometimes imagined what would happen if women temporarily led every government.
“Even when I was president, I sometimes fantasised about, if you put women in charge of every government for like two years and then just kind of saw, all right, how are things going?” he said.
Obama added that he did not expect such an arrangement to produce perfect governments but believed the results would be better.
“I have a strong belief that things would — they wouldn’t be perfect. But they’d be better. I’m confident about that. I really do,” he said.
During the discussion, Obama also addressed political divisions in the United States, arguing that Americans at the community level may be less divided than political debates and media coverage suggest.
The former president has expressed a similar view before. In 2019, while speaking at a leadership event in Singapore, he suggested that countries could see improvements if women were given the opportunity to run every country for two years.
Obama’s latest comments were made in the context of a broader discussion about leadership, political renewal and creating opportunities for younger generations to take positions of influence.
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