Governments Would Perform Better If Women Were In Charge — Obama

Former United States President Barack Obama has said governments around the world could perform better if women were placed in charge for two years.

Obama made the remark during a conversation with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin at Salem State University in Massachusetts on Monday. C-SPAN shared a clip of the discussion on Friday.

Speaking about leadership and the importance of creating opportunities for younger generations, Obama recalled a thought he had while serving as president.

He said he had wondered what would happen if women were given control of every government for two years to assess the impact on governance.

“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,” Obama said.

He added, “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.”

The hour-long event, held at the university’s O’Keefe Sports Complex, attracted about 3,600 people, while hundreds of others watched from a satellite venue on campus.

Obama had expressed a similar view in 2019 during a leadership event in Singapore, where he said the world could see improvements if women led every country for two years.

During the Salem State discussion, the former president also addressed political divisions in the United States, arguing that Americans were less divided at the grassroots level than the country’s politics and media often suggest.

“We’re not as divided as our politics or our media would indicate,” he said, adding that people across the country continued to treat one another with respect.