This child will be great : memoir of a remarkable life by Africa's first woman president / Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The beginning -- Childhood ends -- America again -- The Tolbert years -- The 1980 coup -- Climbing the corporate ladder -- The 1985 elections -- The attempted coup -- Escape -- Equator bank and the Charles Taylor war -- ECOMOG -- UNDP and Rwanda -- War some more/1997 elections -- Self-imposed exile, or exile again -- Accra and the transition -- Becoming President -- Inauguration day -- The first hundred days -- Some challenges ahead -- The future -- Appendix: Inaugural speech by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

In January 2006, after 14 years of brutal civil conflict, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's "Iron Lady," was sworn in as president of the Republic of Liberia. In this memoir, Sirleaf shares the story of her rise to power, from her early childhood to her studies in the US, her work as an international bank executive, her imprisonment and exile, and her fight for democracy and social justice. By sharing her story, Sirleaf encourages women everywhere to pursue leadership roles at the highest levels of power, and gives hope that, with perseverance, we can change the world. An appendix provides her inaugural speech.