Former US President, Barack Obama has reignited a long-running debate on gender and political leadership, telling an audience in Massachusetts that he believes the world’s governments would run better if women were placed in charge, even if only for a limited stretch of time.

Speaking at a sold-out event at Salem State University on Monday, in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Obama recalled entertaining the idea even while he was in office.

He described imagining a scenario in which every government on earth was led by women for roughly two years, just to observe how outcomes would change, adding that he doubted the result would be flawless but was confident it would represent an improvement.

“I’m confident about that. I really do,” he told the crowd, as Goodwin interjected in agreement that things would indeed be better.

It was not the first time Obama has floated the idea. He made a similar argument at a leadership event in Singapore back in December 2019, where he went further, suggesting that a world run entirely by women for two years would see measurable gains in living standards and other outcomes “across the board.” At that same event, he also took aim at ageing political leaders, mostly men, who he argued were reluctant to make way for a younger generation.

The latest remarks quickly went viral online, drawing a sharply divided reaction. Supporters praised Obama’s comments as a continuation of his long-standing advocacy for greater representation of women in leadership roles.

Critics, however, accused him of hypocrisy, pointing to his own 2008 Democratic primary victory over Hillary Clinton as evidence that his actions had not always matched his rhetoric on the subject. Conservative commentators, including Benny Johnson, pushed back more forcefully, citing controversial criminal cases involving women in an attempt to rebut the idea that gender alone determines leadership quality.

Elsewhere in the Salem State conversation, Obama turned lighter, suggesting that organisers consider inviting his wife, Michelle Obama, to headline a future event, joking that she would outshine him, before returning to a broader theme of the evening: the importance of creating space for younger voices and a new generation of leaders across politics.

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