JACINDA ARDERN

As New Zealand's prime minister, she became a worldwide phenomenon. And then she walked away.

- KAYLA WEBLEY ADLER

Jacinda Ardern was just 37 years old when she captured the hearts of the globe. Elected prime minister of New Zealand in 2017, a race she won a mere seven weeks after entering the contest, she was the youngest female head of state, one of just 13 women premiers worldwide—a progressive who promised to combat climate change, support abortion rights, and make her country the best place in the world to be a child.

They called it “Jacindamania.” It was the first time many in the U.S. had known the name of the person leading the small South Pacific nation, let alone followed her every history-making move. She won fans around the world and made headlines for having an equal number of women and men in her parliament; for being the second head of state in history to give birth while in office; for taking parental leave; for being unmarried; for having her partner, Clarke Gayford, stay home with their daughter, Neve, while she went back to work.

She was called the “anti-Trump” for the kindness she exuded on the world stage, an antidote to the rise of populist strongmen. She was also praised for her empathetic leadership style in the face of a deadly volcano eruption and mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch that claimed 51 lives (she announced a ban on assault rifles six days later). In October 2020, Ardern was reelected in a landslide, her popularity fueled by her deft handling of the COVID pandemic. And then, after over five years in office, in January 2023, she announced her resignation, saying, with tears in her eyes, that she didn’t have “enough left in the tank” to do the job justice.