Madam Prime Minister

A Life in Power and Politics

Gro Harlem Brundtland

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9781466808331
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

One of the world's leading woman politicians tells her inspiring story At forty-one, Gro Harlem Brundtland, physician and mother of four, was appointed prime minister of Norway-the youngest person and the first woman ever to hold that office. In this refreshingly forthright memoir, Brundtland traces her unusual and meteoric career. She grew up with strong role models-her parents were active in the Norwegian resistance and involved in postwar politics. She became known as a pro-choice crusader in the seventies and entered politics as the minister of the environment. She appointed eight women to her second eighteen-member cabinet, to this day a world record, and was the leading figure in the process that led to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. As director-general of the World Health Organization since 1997, Brundtland is the first woman elected to run a major UN institution. Along the way, she met a host of international politicians, including Margaret Thatcher-who did not share Brundtland's view on feminism-Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, and Hillary Clinton.Brundtland writes candidly and with humor about raising children in the political limelight and about dealing with political opposition and stereotypes about women. Hers is a fascinating story of one person's ability to make a difference-globally.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1 - Love, War, Childhood
• Chapter 2 - Mother, Doctor, Rebel, Researcher
• Chapter 3 - The New Minister of the Environment
• Chapter 4 - The Woman’s Year
• Chapter 5 - Challenges Offshore and Inland
• Chapter 6 - Sidelined
• Chapter 7 - Celebrated and Under Attack
• Chapter 8 - Nuclear Arms and Security—The Big Test
• Chapter 9 - At Home, in Opposition
• Chapter 10 - The Brundtland Commission
• Chapter 11 - Government of Women, 1986–89
• Chapter 12 - Losing and Winning the Government
• Chapter 13 - Safety Net: The European Economic Area
• Chapter 14 - The Long Struggle Toward EU Membership
• Chapter 15 - Cities and Summits, Leaders and Heroes
• Chapter 16 - Jørgen
• Chapter 17 - Stepping Down
• Chapter 18 - My Way to the WHO
• Chapter 19 - Health and Globalization
• Index
• Copyright Page