5 Women Who Could Be the First Female President

The world has given us Golda Meir of Israel, Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom and Angela Merkel of Germany. We have seen Geena Davis as the fictional United States President on the short run television show Commander in Chief. We have seen Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that is the United States Presidency. We are ready for a female president.

The following five women have the best shot at making history as the first female President of the United States. They come from both major political parties and extraordinary backgrounds of experience.

Governor Kathleen Sebelius- Democrat, Kansas. Governor Sebelius is the second female governor of the state of Kansas and the chair-emerita of the Democratic Governor's Association. Although she has yet to reach national recognition, she gave the Democrat response to President Bush's 2008 State of the Union address, in which she laid out her party's platform for the 2008 elections. Sebelius was an early endorser of Barack Obama, and has been widely mentioned as a potential running mate for Obama. Coming from America's heartland, Sebelius is one of the most popular governor's of U.S. state and was named by Time magazine as one of five best governor's in America, primarily for eliminating debt without raising taxes. She is seen as a moderate liberal.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison- Republican, Texas. Senator Hutchison is the first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate and is the most senior female Republican Senator. She has demonstrated a strong conservative record, while maintaining the ability to cross the aisle and compromise. She was named by TheWhiteHouseProject.org as one of its "8 in '08" one of 8 women who could be elected president in 2008. Although she has mentioned she will not seek reelection after her current term, she has been widely mentioned as a possible running-mate for Senator John McCain, and has been touted as helpful to courting the female vote.

Carly Fiorina- Republican. Probably the least known of this list, Fiorina worked as a vice-president at AT&T, directed the initial public offering of Lucent and as the chief executive officer and chairman of the board for Hewlett-Packard. She's been listed by Fortune magazine as the #1 most powerful woman in business. Since leaving the business world, she has become a top advisor to Senator John McCain in his presidential campaign. Fiorina has been a strong surrogate for McCain who has been seen as having less-than-strong economic chops. At a time when the economy has even trumped the war in Iraq as a political issue, Fiorina provides strong worldly knowledge in economics. She has been offered as a potential running-mate for McCain.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice- Republican. Rice made history as the first black woman Secretary of State. She served as President Bush's National Security Advisor during the aftermath of September 11th and the build-up to the war in Iraq. Although criticized with the unpopularity of the war, Rice is extremely intelligent on foreign policy. She is an expert on Soviet and East European affairs. She has led the charge in democratizing the Middle East. Despite stating she has no interests in elected offices, she is widely popular in the GOP as a possible candidate, especially considering the majority of minorities tend to lean toward the Democrats.

Senator Hillary Clinton- Democrat, New York. As previously mentioned, Senator Clinton cracked the famed glass ceiling with 18 million primary votes in her run for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2007/2008. She won major states, including: California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Hampshire and disputed Florida and Michigan. Clinton built a strong coalition and served as the front-runner for much of the primary season. She probably would've sealed the nomination easily if not for one important factor, Barack Obama. Clinton gracefully left the primaries and threw her support behind Obama. She's been the most mentioned name as a possible running-mate for Obama in 2008. Although the likelihood of her as vice-president seems diminished, she does carry large clout in the party and the nation, as well as the world at large. She should not be discounted from the presidency, if Obama does not win in 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton may very will return as the "come-back kid" in 2012.

These women could very will stand on the shoulders of previous women candidates such as Margaret Chase Smith, Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro, Elizabeth Dole and Carol Moseley Braun to clinch the United States Presidency. Whether a run as president, or becoming president after serving as a vice president, a woman will no doubt reach the highest office in the land, and these 5 women have the best shot at it.