There's something about Michelle

Posted By David Francis Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 11:18 AM Share

TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Iamges

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is so hot right now. Not only is she one of the world's most eligible leaders, David Rieff in this coming Sunday's New York Times Magazine anoints her the leader of a new generation of female heads of state in South America.

But unlike Argentina's President-elect Cristina Fernández de Kirchner or former Argentine President Isabel Perón (or Hillary Clinton, for that matter), Bachelet did not have a powerful husband to grease the political wheels on her way into office. As Rieff puts it, she is "the first woman in South America who can be said to have earned the title on her own merits."

So she's ambitious. And she's tough, having survived interrogation and torture by former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's secret police in the 1970s. And she's a doctor by training, so she's smart.

Think you have a shot at her? It's doubtful—right now, she's got her hands full with Wednesday's earthquakes and Thursdays aftershocks. But check out this week's List to find out more about her and other eligible world leaders.

EXPLORE:LATIN AMERICA, POLITICS

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