Top 10s

The Most Powerful Modern Women Leaders

Ukraine's opposition leader and former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, foreground, and newly elected Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko speak while meeting in Kiev on Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2007. Credit: The Associated Press

Yulia Tymoshenko

With her model's good looks and the brains of a business tycoon, Yulia Tymoshenko was the perfect poster-child for Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004. When it was done, she was prime minister and one of the most powerful women in the world. Despite some political ups and downs since, Tymoshenko is again PM and is a possible candidate for the Presidency in 2010.

Credit: Wikimedia

Sirivamo Bandaranaike

The world's first female prime minister continued in her husband's stead after he was assassinated in 1959 - earning the nickname "the weeping widow" for her frequent tearful outbursts on the campaign trail. Among other accomplishments, Bandranaike changed her country's name to Sri Lanka from Ceylon, a leftover of British rule. Her daughter also became president.

Benazir Bhutto references charges of corruption against prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Jan 9, 1998 in Islamabad. Credit: The Associated Press

Benazir Bhutto

Having already served two terms as PM, five years in jail for corruption and, finally, a stint in exile, the young and glamorous Benazir Bhutto was enjoying her triumphant return to Pakistan when killed in an apparent assassination attempt in December of 2007. Pundits think she may have regained power in the 2008 elections, continuing on a long Bhutto legacy in Pakistan.

Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino stands before well-wishers at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu, Hawaii, Tuesday, July 13, 2004. Credit: The Associated Press

Corazon Aquino

This widow and self-proclaimed housewife took control as President of the Philippines in 1986 as part of the "People Power" revolt that ousted Ferdinand Marcos and his shoe-loving wife, Imelda. With no prior political experience and five children on her hands, Aquino still managed to implement a number of popular reforms and is remembered as a unifying force.

President Johnson-Sirleaf seen during her State of the Nation address on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Jan. 29 2007. Credit: The Associated Press

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

The "Iron Lady" of Liberia became Africa's first elected female head of state in 2005 after leading the campaign to remove controversial President Charles Taylor from office. Johnson-Sirleaf earned her Thatcheresque nickname by surviving several years in prison and exile for criticizing the government. Liberia needed an educated, motherly figure like Sirleaf to set their fractious country back on the right path, pundits have said.

Chancellor Merkel, and Kurt Beck, party leader of the Social Democrats, speak during a press conference in Berlin on Sept. 22, 2006. Credit: The Associated Press

Angela Merkel

Forbes' current most powerful woman in the world is Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel. A potent symbol of the nation's modern economy, Merkel made history in 2007 when Germany simultaneously took its turn presiding over the Group of Eight and the European Union - putting the chemistry genius, essentially, at the helm of the continent.

Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir gestures at a news conference as she arrived for talks with President Richard M. Nixon in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 26, 1973. Credit: The Associated Press

Golda Meir

It took just 20 years for the new state of Israel to elect its first female prime minister, Golda Meir, who grew up in Milwaukee but settled in Palestine to fight for Israeli statehood. As one of the founding "fathers" of the nation - her predecessor once called her "the only man in the cabinet" - she was brought out of retirement at age 70 to become its leader in 1969, leading Israel through the massacre at the Munich Olympics and the Yom Kippur War.

Credit: The Associated Press

Margaret Thatcher

After she became Britain's first Prime Minister in 1979, Margaret Thatcher figured she may as well stick around for a bit and get things done too, serving three terms in office until 1990. The original "Iron Lady" had a hand in the fall of Communism, pushed her Conservative policies unabashedly and even survived an IRA bomb attack, raising two kids all the while.

Arrival ceremony for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, 11/04/1971. Credit: Nation Archives

Indira Gandhi

President Nixon once called her an "old witch," but Indira Gandhi still managed to triple his five years in office, serving as India's prime minister from 1966-'77 and again from 1980-'84. Gandhi served during tumultuous times for the country, ultimately losing her life to a bullet fired by her own bodyguards. Continuing on the family tradition, Indira's son succeeded her but was also assassinated.

Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from a girl as she walks in Latvian National Opera park in Riga, Latvia, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006. Credit: The Associated Press

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen of the British Commonwealth for 56 years and counting, no female head of state even comes close to Elizabeth's record for longevity or clout. Elizabeth II is more than just a figurehead, she is a veritable global institution - just recently slowing her grueling schedule of world travel at the age of 82.