A Woman in the White House

Linda Robinson

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For the United States to have a woman president come January would be consequential, perhaps even transformational. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has not emphasized her gender or her biracial identity during her campaign or, indeed, her career. Like other women leaders I have interviewed in the past two years and all over the world, from Denmark and Estonia to Malawi and Nigeria, she wants to be seen simply as a leader who happens to be a woman. Forty percent of countries have had a woman leader, but Harris’s governance of one of the world’s most powerful states would send a thundering message across the globe. According to the 2023 Gender Social Norms Index, a UN project that compiles survey data from more than 90 countries, 49 percent of people around the world still think that men make better political leaders than women. A Harris presidency would be an opportunity to put this persistent prejudice to rest—and to give women and girls everywhere the confidence that they, too, can run for and win high office.

The message that a Harris victory would send would be even more resonant at this existential juncture in U.S. and world history. Americans face a stark choice between Harris and former President Donald Trump. Harris is a former prosecutor who emphasizes that her entire career has been devoted to upholding U.S. law; her opponent, Trump, has blatantly disregarded the Constitution, laws, and social norms that have long defined American democracy. Many U.S. allies and partners are now striving to defend their democracies against internal and external threats while the autocrats who lead many of the world’s largest countries are trampling on human rights, invading their neighbors, and destabilizing the rules-based global order. A Trump victory would be a boon to this axis of autocrats, whereas Harris would undoubtedly champion the defense of democracy and firmly position the United States on the side of international norms. She would bolster those fighting against tyranny, including the democratic movements in Belarus, Russia, Venezuela, and elsewhere that have women at their helms.