Elizabeth Dole Establishes Another First

by Danielle Meyers

Is America ready for a woman president one as seemingly qualified as Elizabeth Dole? At the time of this interview, which occurred just prior to her announcement that she was stepping out of the presidential race, one would have thought she had all of the criteria to be a good candidate. "I know what it takes to run a huge corporation," Mrs. Dole told a fund raising audience in Greenwich.

No stranger to politics or to handling a CEO leadership position, Elizabeth Dole has brought her knowledge and expertise to the Red Cross, where she served as President from 1991-1999. During this time, she was responsible for improving the quality of the world's blood supply. In addition, she raised more than $562 million to assist victims of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, winter storms, floods and other non-weather related disasters. Prior to that, she served as Secretary of Labor in President Bush's Cabinet and before that, she was the Secretary of Transportation under President Reagan.

Mrs. Dole has a certain presence about her. She had just arrived in Greenwich after having to be "up" for five different fund raising events in Iowa on the same day. At these places, she spoke on a variety of topics, suggesting solutions to the problems that confront each area. From the moment you meet her, hearing her speak so eloquently, you know that you are in the presence of someone with high energy. She is someone who will get whatever job needs to be done, done well.

At this fund raising event, Mrs. Dole explained where she stood on various issues. One issue she spent time discussing involved the decentralization of the public school system. She believes that the local