Madeleine M. Kunin
Madeleine M. Kunin
Madeleine May Kuninis an American diplomat and politician. She was the 77th Governor of Vermont from 1985 until 1991, as a member of the Democratic Party. She also served as United States Ambassador to Switzerland from 1996 to 1999. She was Vermont's first and, to date, only female governor as well as the first Jewish governor of Vermont. She was also the first Jewish woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state. Kunin is currently a James Marsh Professor-at-Large...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDiplomat
Date of Birth28 September 1933
CountryUnited States of America
Inaction, contrary to its reputation for being a refuge, is neither safe nor comfortable.
Contradictory as it seems, malnutrition is a key contributor to obesity.
We're all basically made of the same stuff: generosity and selfishness, goodness and greed.
One is responsible for one's own life. Passivity provides no protection.
Simply put, when women do well, everybody does better.
Those who speak up, those who use their connections, are more likely to succeed than those who sit and wait.
Our right to disagree is precious but fragile. The best way to protect and preserve it is to let the other side speak without demonizing them or destroying their right to be heard. Such civil exchanges are the heart beat of democracy - essential to keeping it alive.
Money often determines not only who gets elected, but what gets done. Which voices do lawmakers listen to, the banks or home owners, coal companies, or asthma sufferers, the CEOs or the unemployed?
I confess to feeling continued ambivalence about political life, aware of its shortcomings and disappointments, but drawn back to it again and again because of its infinite promise. Justice can triumph, wrongs can be righted, and pain can be alleviated, if the right fix is found. The optimistic illusion that one can change the world is difficult to resist, especially when from time to time that illusion is sustained by even a hint of reality. Change does happen in the political process.
When there is violence against any person in society, because he or she is different, it threatens us all. Only by speaking out are any of us safe.
If we are to create a new agenda for family/work policies, employers and employees have to take a seat at the same table and recognize their mutual gains.
To be political means to speak out, to risk being called 'catty', or worse. I don't hear men worrying about whether they may be right or not. They enjoy the fight, whether it is with words or fists. Women still tend to shy away from controversy, to be uncomfortable with competition.
Politics creates an almost endless time horizon into the future. ... As governor I had the incredible luxury of being able to dream on a grand scale. And this sense of infinite possibility gives politics its romance.
'Job Killer.' Those are the two words you are most likely to hear uttered by most American CEOs when confronted with proposals to enact family-friendly work policies.