It, and that she was a native Liberian, probably ultimately saved her life.
In 1980, following the government’s overthrow and Tolbert’s murder, Sirleaf continued being vigilant while working for the new President as well as for World Bank. She knew she could do more if she stayed in-country during Liberia’s civil war, but her eventual outspokenness was consequently perilous: for her rebellious actions, she was jailed in 1985, which outraged the country’s market-women.
They helped get her released. It would be two decades before they’d get her elected.
Whew. Reading “Madame President” very well could wring you out.
Starting with birth and a basic history of Liberia, author Cooper takes us through a half-century of turmoil with a woman that, considering what surrounded her, possessed grit and guts.
(“Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf” by Helene Cooper, c.2017, Simon & Schuster, $27/$36 Canada, 336 pages.)
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