Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand in October 2017.
Credit: © Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images

An icon for women and girls around the world, Jacinda Ardern served as prime minister of New Zealand for a little over five years. Assuming the role in October 2017, she responded to a tragic mass shooting and managed the country through the COVID-19 pandemic. Within her first year in office, she had her daughter, becoming the second elected head of government in modern history to give birth while holding office. Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was the first, in 1990. Ardern is a strong leader who skillfully led her country through tragedies.

On January 19, 2023, Ardern announced that she would resign as prime minister and as leader of the Labour Party. She officially stepped down as prime minister on January 25. Ardern said that her resignation was part of a decision to help the Labour Party find a new leader before the 2023 general election, as well as to protect her own mental health. She also announced her intention to carry out the rest of her term as a member of Parliament.

Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, on July 26, 1980. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications studies from the University of Waikato in 1999.

Ardern became interested in politics at a young age. She joined the Labour Party, a center-left political party that favors socially liberal policies, at the age of 17. From 2003 to 2004, she served as the vice president of the Young Labour Party. She was first elected to New Zealand’s Parliament in 2008. She was soon appointed the party’s spokesperson on youth affairs. She later served as spokesperson for social development; for justice, children, and small business; and for arts, culture, and heritage.

In March 2017, Labour elected Ardern to be the party’s deputy leader. Polls prior to a 2017 general election showed weak support for the party. To improve Labour’s chances in the election, Andrew Little resigned his leadership of the party. Ardern became Labour leader on July 31, 2017.

No party won a majority of parliamentary seats in the September 2017 general election. The National Party won 56 seats, and Labour, together with the Green Party, won 54. The New Zealand First Party, led by Winston Peters, won 9 seats. New Zealand First joined Labour and the Greens, forming a governing partnership with a 63-seat majority. Ardern was sworn in as prime minister on Oct. 26, 2017.

On March 15, 2019, a white supremacist gunman attacked two mosques in Christchurch before being captured by police. The attacker killed 51 people and injured dozens more in the deadliest terrorist attack in New Zealand’s history. Within weeks after the attack, Ardern’s government introduced new laws banning the ownership of most automatic and semiautomatic weapons. The legislation overwhelmingly passed through Parliament and became law on April 12.

In 2020, Ardern won praise for her leadership role in New Zealand’s rapid and effective response to the worldwide public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government restricted travel to New Zealand, closed schools and nonessential businesses, and encouraged residents to practice social distancing. It also provided financial assistance for workers and businesses. By late April, some restrictions were eased, following a significant decrease in new cases.

In October 2020 parliamentary elections, Labour won a rare outright majority of seats, and Ardern remained prime minister. Ardern’s handling of the 2019 terrorist attack and the COVID-19 pandemic were credited with voters’ strong support for the Labour Party. The nation’s COVID-19 vaccination program began in February 2021, and a high percentage of the eligible population was vaccinated by the end of the year. Ardern announced an end to most of New Zealand’s strict COVID-19 policies in 2022.

Native American politician Deb Haaland
© Romie Miller, Shutterstock

People in the United States observe Native American Heritage Month each year in November. During this period, many Native tribes celebrate their cultures, histories, and traditions. It is also a time to raise awareness of the challenges Indigenous people have faced in the past and today, along with their contributions to the United States as its first inhabitants. 

Deb Haaland is a Native American politician. In 2018, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from New Mexico. In 2020, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Haaland as the first Native American secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Debra Anne Haaland was born Dec. 2, 1960, in Winslow, Arizona. She is of Pueblo ancestry and is an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna. Her parents both served in the military, and the family moved frequently when she was growing up. In 1994, she graduated from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor’s degree in English. She then started a business making and canning salsa. She earned a J.D. degree from the university’s law school in 2006.

Haaland began her political career as a campaign volunteer for Democratic Party candidates, working to increase voter turnout among Native Americans. She worked as a tribal administrator for the San Felipe Pueblo people from 2013 to 2015. In 2014, she ran for lieutenant governor of New Mexico but was not elected. She served as chair of New Mexico’s Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017.

Kamala Harris
Credit: California Attorney General’s Office

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas. 

Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams have reshaped the American political landscape not only for women and people of color, but for all Americans. Regardless of political affiliation, both have opened doors for women, rising to new heights in government and politics.

Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on Oct. 20, 1964. Her mother, a physician and cancer specialist, was born in India. Her father, who was born in Jamaica, became an economics professor. In 1986, Harris received a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Howard University. In 1989, she earned a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

From 1990 to 1998, Harris served as deputy district attorney for Alameda County, in California. In 1998, she became the managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. In 2000, she was named to lead the San Francisco City Attorney’s Division on Families and Children.

In 2003, Harris won election as San Francisco district attorney. She was reelected in 2007 and served through 2010. Her victory in the 2010 campaign for state attorney general marked the first time that a woman and—because of her mixed ethnicity—a person of Black and South Asian ancestry won the post. Harris took office in 2011. As attorney general, she gained attention for her work to combat transnational gangs and investigate banks that engaged in mortgage fraud. She was reelected in 2014 and served until 2017.

In June 2016, Harris finished first in California’s open primary for a U.S. Senate seat. She defeated Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, a fellow Democrat, in the November election. As a U.S. senator, Harris served on a number of committees, including the Judiciary Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

In January 2019, Harris began a campaign for her party’s 2020 nomination for president. She dropped out of the race in December 2019, while trailing her competitors in fundraising and in support in public opinion polls.

In August 2020, Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, named Harris his vice presidential running mate. Issues in the campaign included the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and tensions between Black communities and police. Biden and Harris won the November 2020 election. Harris resigned her Senate seat in January 2021, days before she and Biden took office. On Jan. 20, 2021, Harris became the first woman to serve as vice president of the United States. She also became the first person of Black and South Asian ancestry to serve in the position.

Stacey Abrams
Credit: © Cheriss May, NurPhoto/Getty Images

Stacey Abrams also played a major role in the 2020 election. Get-out-the-vote drives championed by Abrams are widely credited with helping Biden and Harris to win the state of Georgia. They are also said to have helped two Democrats to victory in state runoff elections, tipping the balance of the U.S. Senate.

Stacey Yvonne Abrams was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 9, 1973. She grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi. When Abrams was 16, her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia. In 1991, Abrams graduated from Avondale High School, where she was the first Black valedictorian. The valedictorian is the graduate with the highest marks. In 1995, she graduated magna cum laude (with great honor) from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in interdisciplinary studies. The major combined political science, economics, and sociology. She then attended the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a master’s degree in public policy in 1998. The next year, Abrams earned her J.D. degree from the law school of Yale University.

After graduating law school, Abrams began working at a law firm in Atlanta. In 2003, she started her career in government. She became the deputy attorney for the city of Atlanta’s law department. In 2006, Abrams was elected to Georgia’s House of Representatives from the state’s 84th district.

After four years as a representative, Abrams was chosen by the Democratic Party to serve as minority leader in the House of Representatives of Georgia. She became the first woman to serve as leader of either party in the Georgia General Assembly, the state’s legislature.

In 2018, she became the first Black woman nominated by a major political party to run for governor of Georgia. In the primary contest, Abrams defeated the Democrat Stacey Evans. But, in the general election, she was narrowly defeated by the Republican candidate Brian Kemp.

In addition to holding political office, Abrams has founded several political organizations. In 2014, she founded the New Georgia Project to counteract challenges to voter rights and increased barriers to voter registration. In 2018, she founded Fair Fight, an organization promoting voter education and fair elections.

August 28, 2018

Fifty years ago this week, from Aug. 26 to 29, 1968, political leaders gathered for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to nominate that party’s candidate for president of the United States. The convention is normally a festive, hopeful, and inspiring event, but few things were “normal” in the United States of 1968. The ongoing Vietnam War was a point of bitter contention among the American public. The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy had produced shock, grief, and anger in the country. Racial tensions were high, and social and political divides had never been sharper. Political protests turned violent during the convention, and America watched on television as police battled the people in the streets of Chicago.

Protesters confront National Guard troops on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 26, 1968. Credit: Library of Congress

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, second only in power in the Democratic party to President Lyndon B. Johnson, was prepared for unrest. The city’s police were out in force for the convention, the National Guard had been mobilized, and steel barrier walls topped with barbed wire were ready to slide into place. A heatwave and taxi driver strike added to the kindling of political discord, and as protesters took advantage of the convention’s media spotlight to plead their cases, the ingredients were ready for confrontation.

Richard J. Daley, the mayor of Chicago from 1955 to 1976, was one of the most powerful Democratic politicians in the United States. Credit: AP Photo

People from across the country came to Chicago to participate in protests during the convention. People stridently called for racial equality, radical political change, an end to the war in Vietnam, and other causes. Protests took place around the city, and roaring chants and catcalls greeted political delegates as they emerged from cars to enter the International Amphitheatre on Chicago’s south side (the indoor arena was torn down in 1999). Inside the convention, there was yelling too. Delegates strongly disagreed on who should replace President Johnson—who had chosen not to run for a second full term—on the Democratic presidential ticket. The death of Robert Kennedy had opened a void in Democratic leadership, and the contenders to fill that void vastly differed on the country’s issues.

Democratic presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey addresses the crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 29, 1968. Credit: AP Photo

Many Chicago police officers, on edge and pushed to the limit of their tolerance, began beating protesters who would not respond to orders to withdraw, move aside, or quiet down. Protesters responded by hurling rocks and other projectiles at the police, and the commotion turned to riot. Police sprayed people with mace and fired tear gas into the crowds. Hundreds of people were arrested, often with great physical violence, and many protesters and police were injured. Many innocent bystanders were also hurt, including members of the media trying to cover the unrest.

Television news broadcast the mayhem around the country, and people connected the violence with the Democratic Party. The eventual Democratic presidential nominee, Johnson’s Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, did not please many Democratic voters. Humphrey lost to the Republican “law and order” candidate Richard M. Nixon in the election. Nixon lost favor with Americans, however. The president promised to end U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but he increased air raids and sent American troops into battle for five more years. In 1974, after his Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned while under criminal investigation, Nixon too resigned to prevent being impeached because of the Watergate scandal.

April 19, 2018

Late Tuesday, on April 17, former United States First Lady Barbara Pierce Bush, the wife of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, died at her home in Houston, Texas. Geroge H. W. Bush served as president from 1989 to 1993. Mrs. Bush also is the mother of George W. Bush, who was U.S. president from 2001 to 2009. As first lady, Barbara Bush worked to promote literacy. Her witty, friendly manner made her a popular first lady.

Barbara Pierce Bush (1925-2018).
Credit: Library of Congress

Mrs. Bush, whose maiden name was Barbara Pierce, was born on June 8, 1925. Her family lived in Rye, New York, at the time of her birth, but she was born in nearby New York City. Her father became the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. Barbara’s mother was the daughter of an Ohio Supreme Court justice. Franklin Pierce, who served as president of the United States from 1853 to 1857, was a great-great-great uncle of Barbara Pierce. The Pierce family was well-to-do. Barbara spent her last three years of high school at Ashley Hall, a finishing school in Charleston, South Carolina.

Barbara Pierce and George H. W. Bush met in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1941. They became engaged in August 1943. They married on Jan. 6, 1945, while Bush was on leave from naval duty in World War II (1939-1945). Barbara Bush had enrolled in Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1943. She dropped out early in 1944 to plan her marriage.

Barbara and George H. W. Bush had six children. The children were, in order of birth, George, Pauline (called Robin), John (called Jeb), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Their son George was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and reelected in 1998. He was elected president of the United States in 2000 and reelected in 2004. Jeb Bush was governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.

The Bush family moved often as the elder George Bush’s career took them to different locations. After serving as vice president of the United States under President Ronald Reagan, Bush became president in 1989.

As first lady, Barbara Bush sought to turn the public’s attention to the problem of illiteracy. She called on people to become volunteers to help solve social problems, including illiteracy, AIDS, and homelessness. In 1989, she helped found the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

The Bushes favored informality in White House social functions. Barbara Bush liked to host informal parties and barbecues. The Bushes also entertained at their summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Barbara Bush’s springer spaniel, Millie, became a nationally famous pet. The first lady published Millie’s Book, a book about her dog, in 1990.

After George H. W. Bush’s term as president ended in 1993, Barbara and George moved to Houston. Barbara Bush continued to work on social causes. She also wrote two autobiographical books, Barbara Bush: A Memoir (1995) and Reflections: Life After the White House (2003).

June 24, 2016

On June 24, 2016, a taxi driver waves the Union Jack in Westminster, London, after British voters narrowly chose to leave the European Union in the historic “Brexit” referendum.
Credit: © Stefan Rousseau, PA Wire/AP Photo

Yesterday, June 23, British voters went to the polls to decide whether the United Kingdom (UK) should remain in the European Union (EU)—a contentious referendum nicknamed “Brexit” (British exit). By a 51.9 to 48.1 percent margin, voters narrowly chose to “leave,” sending shock waves throughout the UK as well as the rest of the world. Most business and world leaders had backed and expected a “remain” victory, and opinion polls too had predicted a narrow “remain” majority. Global economic markets and currencies dropped sharply upon the news, and British Prime Minister David Cameron, a strong “remain” backer, announced he would resign from office in the coming months. More than 33 million people voted in the Brexit referendum, a turnout of 72.2 percent.

The UK government is not bound by the “leave” vote, but politicians will no doubt respect its result. The process to leave the EU could take years, but the UK’s place in the partnership is immediately jeopardized. The UK could be excluded from votes on long-lasting matters and other topics of importance (such as its own Brexit). The European Parliament will hold an emergency session next week to discuss the vote’s result.

The consequences of the “leave” vote—beyond removing the UK from the EU—are widespread, lengthy, and somewhat uncertain. Cameron’s fall could be followed by many others, including that of Labour Party leader and fellow “remain” backer Jeremy Corbyn. The Brexit vote could also propel one of its most vocal supporters, former London Mayor Boris Johnson, into the vacancy soon to be left by Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party and possibly as prime minster as well. Other political ramifications could be the dissolution of the United Kingdom itself, as Northern Ireland and Scotland, who both voted against the Brexit, will be forced out of the EU against their will. Scotland in particular seems likely to revisit an independence referendum that was voted down less than two years ago. The vote also weakens the EU (the UK is the third largest contributor to the EU budget), and gives hope and strength to budding exit movements in other parts of Europe. Economically, time will determine how severe and long-lasting the currency and market crash will turn out to be. The Brexit vote also created panic and uncertainty among the hundreds of thousands of British citizens living and working in other parts of the EU.

To drum up support from right-wing British parties (which had long called for an EU exit), Prime Minister Cameron promised a future “in/out” EU referendum in 2013. The move helped Conservatives win parliamentary elections in 2015, but many party members then went against Cameron, who did not support a so-called Brexit. A “remain” victory—which at first seemed a near certainty—then fell into doubt. Right-wing groups and many others joined the “leave” camp. They based their support for an EU withdrawal on hopes of cutting off immigration, extricating the nation from the EU’s perceived heavy-handed bureaucracy, and “taking back control” of the UK’s place in the world. They also blamed Europe—the perceived gateway for migrants and refugees from elsewhere in the world—for such domestic problems as unemployment, stagnant wage growth, and high home prices. “Remain” voters supported the generally more favorable diplomatic, economic, logistical, political, and social conditions of EU membership.

By design and negotiation, the UK has been an unusual EU member since the partnership began in 1993. Most obviously, the UK did not join the Economic and Monetary Union when it was formed in 1999—meaning the British decided not to use the euro single currency (as do most EU members)—choosing instead to retain the pound sterling. Also, the UK is not part of the Schengen zone of passport-free travel (which includes the rest of the EU except Ireland). And, despite trailing only France and Germany in contributions to the EU budget, the amount the UK contributes as a percentage of its gross national income is the least of all EU member states.