# Ruth Perry

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{{Short description|Head of state of Liberia from 1996 to 1997}}
{{About|the Liberian politician|other people named Ruth Perry|Ruth Perry (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = Ruth Perry
|image = 
|office      = [Chairman of the Council of State of Liberia](/source/President_of_Liberia)
|deputy      = [George Boley](/source/George_Boley)<br/>[G. V. Kromah](/source/G._V._Kromah)<br/>[Oscar Quiah](/source/Oscar_Quiah)<br/>[Tamba Tailor](/source/Tamba_Tailor)<br/>[Charles Taylor](/source/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician))<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015061931294|hdl = 2027/mdp.39015061931294|title = Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. Oct-Dec 1996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015073049333|hdl = 2027/mdp.39015073049333|title = Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. May-Aug 1997}}</ref>
|term_start  = 3 September 1996
|term_end    = 2 August 1997
|predecessor = [Wilton Sankawulo](/source/Wilton_G._S._Sankawulo)
|successor   = [Charles Taylor](/source/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician)) {{small|(as president)}}
|birth_name  = Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry 
|birth_date  = {{birth date|1939|7|16|df=y}}
|birth_place = [Grand Cape Mount](/source/Grand_Cape_Mount_County), Liberia
|death_date  = {{death date and age|2017|1|8|1939|7|16|df=y}}
|death_place = [Columbus, Ohio](/source/Columbus%2C_Ohio), US
|party       = [Unity Party](/source/Unity_Party_(Liberia))
|alma_mater  = [University of Liberia](/source/University_of_Liberia)
}}

'''Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry''' (16 July 1939 – 8 January 2017) was a Liberian politician. She served as the interim [Chairman of the Council of State](/source/President_of_Liberia) of [Liberia](/source/Liberia) from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997, following the [First Liberian Civil War](/source/First_Liberian_Civil_War).<ref name=jenda>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jendajournal.com/issue9/african_premier_ministers.htm |title=''Jenda Journal'', "African Women Premier Ministers" |access-date=2008-12-08 |archive-date=2010-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606072220/http://www.jendajournal.com/issue9/african_premier_ministers.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> After 11 international peace attempts between 1990 and 1995 to end the civil war in Liberia, the attempts appeared to succeed. The interim Council of State consisted of a civilian chairman, as well as members of warring factions: [Charles Taylor](/source/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician)), [United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-K](/source/United_Liberation_Movement_of_Liberia_for_Democracy-Kromah_faction) leader [Alhaji Kromah](/source/Alhaji_Kromah), [Liberia Peace Council](/source/Liberia_Peace_Council) leader [George Boley](/source/George_Boley), and two other civilians.

Perry was known for being the first female president of Liberia and of contemporary Africa as a whole.<ref name=jenda /> Liberia also has the distinction of electing [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf](/source/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf) as the first elected female African leader in modern times.<ref name=skard>Skard, Torild (2014) "Ruth Perry" in ''Women of Power – Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide'', Bristol: Policy Press, {{ISBN|978-1-44731-578-0}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Perry was born on 16 July 1939, in a rural area of [Grand Cape Mount County](/source/Grand_Cape_Mount_County), Liberia, the daughter of Marjon and AlHaji Semila Fahnbulleh. She was a [Muslim](/source/Muslim) of [Vai](/source/Vai_(ethnic_group)) ethnic ancestry. As a child, Perry participated in the [Sande society](/source/Sande_society), a traditional school and secret society for females, and attended regular classes. Her parents later enrolled her in a [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) school for girls in [Monrovia](/source/Monrovia) run by missionary nuns. Perry graduated from the Teachers College of the [University of Liberia](/source/University_of_Liberia). She worked as an elementary school teacher in Grand Cape Mount County.<ref name=bio>Brennan, Carol (2006). ''Contemporary Black Biography''. {{ISBN|9780787679224}}.</ref>

She married McDonald Perry, a judge and legislator and they had seven children. After her children were grown, Perry worked in the Monrovia office of [Chase Manhattan Bank](/source/Chase_Manhattan_Bank) in 1971, and taught at a Sande school as an elder.<ref name=bio />

==Political career==
When her husband was involved in politics, Ruth Perry engaged in the electoral campaign and tried to get women to vote for him. After her husband died, the party asked Ruth to run as senator for their home district. In 1985, Perry won a seat in the [Liberian Senate](/source/Liberian_Senate) as a [Unity Party](/source/Unity_Party_(Liberia)) candidate.<ref name="nytimesnewinterim">{{cite news|title=New Interim Leader Is Chosen for Liberia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/19/world/new-interim-leader-is-chosen-for-liberia.html|accessdate=10 January 2017|work=The New York Times|date=August 19, 1996}}</ref> In response to [Samuel Doe](/source/Samuel_Doe)'s presidential election after calling elections, Unity Party office-holders and other official opposition politicians boycotted the Senate in protest, asserting that the Doe government was illegitimate. Perry did not join the boycott and became the lone member of the opposition in the Assembly.<ref name=bio /> "You can't solve the problems by staying away," she said.<ref name=skard/> She served until 1989. Afterwards, Perry launched a retail business and became active in civilian groups such as Women Initiative in Liberia, Women in Action for Goodwill and the Association of Social Services that sought an end to the growing [Liberian Civil War](/source/First_Liberian_Civil_War).<ref>Jensen, Jane S. (2008) ''Women political leaders: breaking the highest glass ceiling'', New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 67–8. {{ISBN|9780312223380}}.</ref>

===Interim Head of State: 1996–97 ===
{{expand section|date=January 2017}}
On 17 August 1996, after 17 years of conflict and 7 years of war, the [Economic Community of West African States](/source/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States) (ECOWAS) representatives negotiated a cease-fire between Liberia's warring factions and announced that Perry would replace [Wilton Sankawulo](/source/Wilton_Sankawulo) as Chairman of the Council of State in an interim government. Reportedly all four warlords in the Liberian conflict had agreed to the peace agreement with Perry as interim leader,<ref name=bio /> after her return from a brief exile in [Staten Island, New York](/source/Staten_Island%2C_New_York).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blog.silive.com/memories_column/2011/09/the_world_leaders_who_walked_among_us.html |title=The World Leaders Who Walked Among Us |first=Thomas |last=Matteo |newspaper=Staten Island Advance |date=18 September 2011 |accessdate=28 February 2019}}</ref>

== Later life and death ==
After stepping down, Perry moved between Liberia and the US. In 2004, she was an ''African President-in-Residence'' at the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at [Boston University](/source/Boston_University).<ref>[http://www.bu.edu/aparc/presidents/index.html BU | APARC | About the Center<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920185157/http://www.bu.edu/aparc/presidents/index.html |date=2006-09-20 }}</ref> Perry died on 8 January 2017 at the age of 77.<ref>{{cite news|title=Death of Matriach: Ruth Perry, Former Liberian Leader Dies At 77|url=http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/news/2983-death-of-a-matriach-ruth-perry-former-liberian-leader-is-dies-at-77|accessdate=10 January 2017|work=[FrontPage Africa](/source/FrontPage_Africa)|date=9 January 2017|archive-date=8 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108200209/http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/news/2983-death-of-a-matriach-ruth-perry-former-liberian-leader-is-dies-at-77|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[Wilton Sankawulo](/source/Wilton_G._S._Sankawulo)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[Chairman of the Council of State of Liberia](/source/President_of_Liberia)|years=1996–1997}}
{{s-aft|after=[Charles Taylor](/source/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician))|as=President of Liberia}}
{{s-end}}

{{LiberianPresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Ruth}}
Category:1939 births
Category:2017 deaths
Category:20th-century Liberian politicians
Category:20th-century Liberian women politicians
Category:Liberian Muslims
Category:Members of the Senate of Liberia
Category:People from Grand Cape Mount County
Category:Politicians from Staten Island
Category:Members of the Council of State
Category:Unity Party (Liberia) politicians
Category:University of Liberia alumni
Category:Women presidents in Africa
Category:20th-century presidents in Africa
Category:First women presidents
Category:20th-century women presidents

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ruth Perry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Perry) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Perry?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.