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By davebufkin Posted in Hollywood — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sally Field made an ass of herself at the Emmy's, but she is not alone in buying into the idea that if only men would step aside and let the ladies rule, there would be no war.

Indeed, in a recent Good Morning America interview, Diane Sawyer asked Hillary Clinton, "Do you believe that if there were more women presidents in the world, there would be less war?"

I decided to test this theory with an afternoon of Wiki-powered research (with a few other details, too). Here are the results:

Read on . . .

Boudica (also spelt Boudicca, formerly better known as Boadicea) (d. 60/61AD) was a queen of the Celtic Iceni people of Norfolk in Eastern Britain who led a major uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. Boudica was married and had at least two daughters.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (January 69 BC – 12 August, 30 BC) was a Hellenistic co-ruler of Egypt with her father ( Ptolemy XII Auletes) and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. She later became the supreme ruler of Egypt, as pharaoh, consummated a liaison with Gaius Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne, and, after Caesar's assassination, aligned with Mark Antony, with whom she produced twins. In all, Cleopatra had four children. She tried to raise a rebellion around Pelusium , but she was soon forced to flee Egypt with her only surviving sister, Arsinoë. In 31 BC Antony's forces faced the Romans in a naval action off the coast of Actium. Cleopatra was present with a fleet of her own.

Catherine II of Russia called the Great (2 May 1729 – 17 November, 1796) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years, from June 28, 1762 until her death. Catherine made Russia the dominant power in south-eastern Europe after her first Russo–Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire (1768–1774), which saw some of the greatest defeats in Turkish history, including the Battle of Chesma (5 July - 7 July 1770) and the Battle of Kagul (21 July 1770). Wife and mother.

Elizabeth I ( 7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death.

Outbreak of the Anglo-Spanish War in 1585; Mary, Queen of Scots was put on trial for the Babington Plot for treason by a court of about 40 noblemen, including Catholics. Mary was found guilty and was beheaded February 8 , 1587.

King Philip of Spain set out his plans for an invasion of England. In April 1587, Sir Francis Drake, under Elizabeth's orders, burned part of the Spanish fleet at Cádiz, delaying Philip's plans. In July 1588 , the Spanish Armada , a grand fleet of 130 ships bearing over 30,000 men, set sail in the expectation of conveying a Spanish invasion force. Elizabeth set out to join her troops wearing little armour over her dress and no guards to accompany her, only pages. Elizabeth addressed her troops with a notable speech, known as the Speech to the Troops at Tilbury , in which she famously declared, "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a King, and of a King of England too! And I think it foul scorn that Spain or Parma or any prince of Europe should dare invade the borders of my realm".

Anne ( 6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding William III and II. Her Roman Catholic father, James II and VII , was forcibly deposed in 1688; her brother-in-law and her sister then became joint monarchs as William III-II and Mary II, the only such case in British history. After Mary's death in 1694, William continued as sole monarch until his own death in 1702. Almost as soon as she succeeded to the throne, Anne became embroiled in the War of the Spanish Succession . Known as Queen Anne's War (1702 –1713) it was the second in a series of four colonial wars fought between France and Great Britain [1] in North America for control of the continent and was the counterpart of the War of the Spanish Succession in Europe. In addition to the two main combatants, the war also involved a number of American Indian tribes and Spain, which was allied to France. This war, in which England supported the claim of Archduke Charles to succeed to the Spanish Throne, would continue until the last years of Anne's reign, and would dominate both foreign and domestic policy.

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch. Victoria, wife and mother, reined over a period of almost constant conflict as Britain defended its vast Empire. . Including the Crimean War, The Indian Mutiny , campaigns on North-west Frontier of India, campaigns in Africa including the Zulu War, the Boer War, and campaigns in Egypt and Sudan.

Empress Dowager Cixi (November 29 , 1835 – November 15, 1908), popularly known in China as the West Dowager Empress . She was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, ruling over China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908. Came to power in a coup. Her army defeated the Taiping Army in a hard-fought battle at Tianjing (present-day Nanjing) in July 1864. Empress Dowager Cixi's supported a violent Chinese nativist movement leading to the Boxer Rebellion which broke out in northern China in 1900. Eager to preserve traditional Chinese values, Empress Dowager Cixi threw in her lot with the rebels, making an official announcement of her support for the movement.

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (19 November 1917 - October 31, 1984) was the Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. Gandhi accelerated India's national nuclear program. In 1974, India successfully conducted an underground nuclear test, unofficially code named as smiling Buddha, near the desert village of Pokhran in Rajasthan. Describing the test as for peaceful purposes, India nevertheless became the world's youngest nuclear power.

Gandhi's later years were bedeviled with problems in Punjab. In September 1981 a separatist Sikh religious group took up positions within the precincts of the Golden Temple , Sikhism's holiest shrine. Gandhi ordered the Army, to the Golden Temple to remove the separatists on June 3, 1984. Wife and mother.

Golda Meir ( May 3, 1898 - December 8, 1978) was one of the founders of the State of Israel. Meir served as the Minister of Labour, Foreign Minister, and then as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel from March 17, 1969 to June 3, 1974

The 1973 Yom Kippur war, won by Israel against six Arab states, occurred during her presidency. Meir was allegedly the second female head of government to oversee the development of a nuclear weapons program. She was preceded in this by Indira Gandhi. Wife and mother.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher , LG, OM, PC (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first (and, to date, only) woman to hold either post. On 2 April 1982, a ruling military junta in Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory that Argentina had claimed since an 1830s dispute on their British settlement. Within days Thatcher sent a naval task force to recapture the islands. Despite the huge logistical difficulties the operation was a success, resulting in a wave of patriotic enthusiasm and support for her government, with Newsweek declaring "The Empire Strikes Back". Wife and mother.

Tansu Penbe Çiller (born 9 October 1946) is an economist and politician in Turkey. She was Turkey's first and to date only female prime minister. On June 13, 1993, she became party leader and then prime minister of a coalition government. The withdrawal of the Republican People's Party from coalition in 1996 brought down her government. In 1996 she led her country to the brink of war with Greece over territorial claims on Imia/Kardak islands.

Benazir Bhutto (born 21 June 1953 in Karachi) is a Pakistani politician who became the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state. Bhutto is the twice-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, being sworn-in for the first time in 1988 , to be deposed 20 months later, under controversial orders of the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan , on grounds of alleged corruption. Benazir was re-elected to power in 1993 but subsequently sacked by the President in 1996 on similar charges. Benazir is often portrayed quite favorably in the Western press but the fact is she played a significant role in drawing Pakistan deep into the Islamic fundamentalism morass, in escalating the Pakistani proxy war in Kashmir and giving active encouragement to the formation of the Taliban.

Now surely I left some peaceful ladies out. But I think these are history's most prominent examples of female leadership. I also left out some prominent honorable mentions who technically did not rule, but in no way support Sally Field's thesis. These include Livia (Mrs. Julius Caesar), Eva Peron, Imelda Marcos and Madam Mao Tse Tung.

Any questions?