Leader Exemplar

Michelle Bachelet

By Chris Pelzel
 Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria

Born September 29th, 1951

First Female president of chile

From 2006-2010 and 2014 - current

First popularly elected South American president whose

Political career was established independently of her

Husband.
Alberto Bachelet

Brigadier General of the Chilean Air Force

He opposed the 1973 Coup of General Augusto Pinochet

and was imprisoned.

He was tortured for several months until he died.

At 23 Michelle lost her father and was arrested and sent

To a secret prison where she was tortured.

 After Prison
She lived in Australia and East
Germany. While in East Germany she
became active in politics.

In 1979 she returned to Chile where

she completed her medical degree.

Due to her family history it was hard

for her to find employment in Chile.
She eventually found work at a
medical clinic where she treated
victims of torture.
Let's get political

In 1990 Michelle became very active in politics.

In 1994 she was appointed as advisor to Chile's
minister for health. She also studied military
affairs.

In 2002 Michelle became the first woman to

lead the defense ministry.
Presidential

In 2005 she was selected as a presidential candidate.

Her campaign had to counter her professed

Agnosticism and the fact that she was a

Divorced mother of 3.
Rough start
Soon after taking office Bachelet
faced some hard times. Many of
Chile’s students were dissatisfied with
the public education system and they
had massive protests. She saw her
approval rating plummet during the
first half of her presidency. However
because of her social programs and
stimulus package to create jobs her
numbers rose sharply the second half
of her presidency. Much of that had to
do with her reduction of poverty and
improving early childhood education.
 First Term comes to an end.
Because of Chile's constitution Michelle was not allowed to run for a
consecutive term. She was credited with reducing poverity and improving early
childhood education.

In 2010 she left office and

became the head of the UN Women.

 Second chance

Bachelet ran again for the presidency

in 2014, winning in a landslide. She
won on the premises of four main
campaign promises. To raise taxes
on corporations, to reform education,
to revise the constitution and to
advance LBGT rights.
Education System and reform

In 2014 she signed the first reform bill, it

opened university education to all students.

It also banned for-profit activities at state-

funded schools.

She introduced a bill to provide free

university education to 60% of the poorest
students. It will gradually increase to 100%
by the year 2020.
Education Reform
“Empowering girls through education”
 Bibliography

References

Chile's Bachelet enacts new education law. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://buenosairesherald.com/article/190406/chiles-bachelet-enacts-new-education-law

C. (n.d.). President Michelle Bachelet: Bringing Equity to Economic Development. Retrieved from http://www.coha.org/president-michelle-bachelet-bringing-equity-to-economic-development/

Editors, T. (2017, April 13). Why Chile's Controversial Education Reforms Are Likely to Last. Retrieved from https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/21855/why-chiles-controversial-

education-reforms-are-likely-to-last

Martinson, J. (2011, April 22). UN Women's head Michelle Bachelet: A new superhero? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/22/michelle-bachelet-un-women

R. (2015, January 27). Chile's Bachelet Prepares Next Phase of Education Reform. Retrieved from https://www.voanews.com/a/reu-chile-bachelet-prepares-next-phase-of-education-

reform/2615882.html

Speech by Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, at the event. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2012/10/speech-by-michelle-bachelet-executive-

director-of-un-women-at-the-event-empowering-girls-through

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2016, August 23). Michelle Bachelet. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelle-Bachelet