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She is the smiling new mother of Chile. On January 15, 2006, center-left Concertación presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet coasted to victory, six points ahead of her run-off opponent, billionaire businessman Sebastian Piñera. The election was particularly surprising given that Chile is often considered a Catholic, socially conservative, economically liberal nation where many of its women maintain traditional roles in the home. Bachelet is a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist - a divorced mother of three - whose curriculum vitae includes an M.D. degree and top government positions such as Defense Minister. She had never before been elected to a political office.

So who is (and was) Michelle Bachelet the first woman president of Chile? How did she rise to become the most politically powerful Chilean despite the nation's machista, male-dominated culture?

Who is Michelle Bachelet? From Allende to Pinochet to Lagos
Bachelet grew up on several military bases as the daughter of Ángela Jeria Gómez and General Alberto Bachelet Martinez, an air force brigadier under Salvador Allende. In 1962, her family moved to Bethesda, Maryland, where her father had given an assignment at the Chilean Embassy, and it was there that Bachelet learned English. Nine days after the military took power on Sept. 11, 1973, Bachelet's father was taken to an underground location at the Air War Academy (AGA) where he suffered severe physical and psychological torture. Her father took his last breath on March 12, 1974 at the AGA.

On January 1975, Pinochet's secret police, the DINA, broke into Bachelet's home and whisked her and her mother to Villa Grimaldi. The head of the DINA - Pinochet's secret police force - Miguel Contreras, interrogated Bachelet, but years later during the political campaign he denied having met with her at Villa Grimaldi. After several days, Bachelet and her mother were transferred to Cuatro Alamos detention center. At the end of January, Bachelet was released and was eventually reunited with her mother.

Bachelet and her mother soon after flew to Australia to live with Bachelet's brother, Alberto. They later moved to East Germany where Bachelet continued her studies and met Jorge Dávalos who she married in 1977. They had two children. Bachelet returned to Chile in 1979, resumed her medical studies and separated from Dávalos in 1984. From 1985-1987, Bachelet was romantically involved with Alex Vojkovic, a member of the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front. After the transition to democracy, Bachelet worked for the Ministry of Health's West Santiago Health Service and later the National AIDS Commission (CONASIDA) where she met medical doctor Anibal Henriquez with whom she had a third child in 1992. From 1994-1997, Bachelet served as the Senior Assistant to the Deputy Health Minister.

In 1995, Bachelet was elected to the Socialist Party central leadership committee. Her first electoral challenge was to run for a municipal seat at a PS candidate in Las Condes, one of the wealthiest districts in Santiago. On October 27, 1996 Joaquín Lavín - the 1999 and 2005 far right UDI presidential nominee - garnered a whopping 77.76 percent of the vote, compared to Bachelet's 2.35 percent. In Bachelet's next electoral competition, she would easily triumph over the center-right Renovación Nacional's Sebastian Piñera to capture the presidency.

Bachelet worked in Washington, D.C. as an advisor for the InterAmerican Defense Committee from 1997-1998. When Lagos won the presidency in 2000, narrowly defeating Lavín in the second round, the first socialist president of Chile since Salvador Allende offered Bachelet the Health Minister position. According to her recent biography Michelle Bachelet: La Historia No Oficial, on January 7, 2002, when she was called to Lagos' office, she was certain he would demand her resignation. Instead, the president offered her the Defense Minister post, which she promptly accepted, becoming the first woman defense minister in Latin America.

As Defense Minister, Bachelet acquired a significant amount of new military equipment. With Juan Emilio Cheyre, the head of the Army, she worked to reestablish a positive image for the Chilean military, which had terrorized thousands of Chileans under Pinochet.

Arguably the most difficult political moment for Bachelet as Defense Minister was the April 2003 revelation of her romance with Alex Vojkovic of the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front in the newsmagazine Que Pasa. Controversy erupted when some suspected her of supporting the Front's terrorist activities. (The organization planned to assassinate Pinochet in 1986.)

Bachelet Pushed to Run for President
By August 2003 prominent politicians were already talking about running a woman for president. Max Colodro, PPD politician and former member of President Ricardo Lagos' cabinet: "A female candidate … would be the ideal way of breathing new life into the Concertación coalition." (The Santiago Times Aug. 21, 2003). Some analysts believed since the Concertación had ruled Chile since the transition to democracy in 1990, voters would be looking for "change," a new type of leadership, and the left knew opposition leader Lavín would be campaigning on a platform of cambio (change). Early on, many pointed to nominating a female candidate as a way to breathe life into the Concertación.

Bachelet successfully played her political image in the first debate against the center-left Christian Democrat candidate Soledad Alvear. Polls showed 63.3 percent believed Bachelet triumphed over Alvear in the debate. Even though the Chilean press claimed Bachelet's debate performance was "less professional" than Alvear's, Bachelet successfully emphasized her "genial" character and the "common touch." Bachelet's surging popularity surprised many political commentators (mostly male), unaccustomed to her lack of pretentiousness. Her competitors tried to turn the "nice" factor into a negative, by suggesting she is lacked the forcefulness and aggressiveness required of the presidency.

Student Protests Rock the Bachelet Administration
Bachelet's first political crisis hit early on during her presidency. When the administration was rumored to plan to increase the price of the compulsory college entrance exam (PSU) and to charge for the previously free bus passes, high school students were infuriated. From April to June 2006, hundreds of thousands of angry student protesters hit the streets up and down Chile. The students demanded free bus fares and the waiving of the PSU fee, but the protests soon broadened into a national movement for higher quality education.

Although scattered violent incidents eroded some support for the demonstrations, the vast majority of Chileans gave the thumbs-up to the students. Bachelet finally committed to maintaining the free bus passes and only obligated the wealthiest Chilean students to pay for the PSU test. Her approval rating, which had been steadily high during her post-election honeymoon, quickly plummeted as she was faulted for lacking authority and strong leadership. Her handling of the student protests helped confirm the dominant stereotype of women's incapacity to govern.

UN Chavez Controversy
Bachelet's first major diplomatic challenge was figuring out how to stay friendly with the U.S. and Venezuela in the fall of 2006. The two nations were at odds over the U.N. rotating Security Council seat and with fiery anti-U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez setting his eyes on the coveted post, the U.S. decided to back Guatemala.

Despite Chile's amicable ties with the U.S., which include a free trade agreement, Bachelet initially leaned toward Venezuela in an effort to avoid U.S. puppet allegations. Christian Democrat (DC) Party President Soledad Alvear and Party for Democracy (PPD) chief Guido Girardi lead the internal Concertación movement against a vote for Venezuela. Girardi said a vote for Caracas would endanger international stability. "Democrats don't wear military uniforms or hold Mussolini-style military demonstrations," he said. "They don't build a personality cult like Chávez has." (The Santiago Times, September 15, 2006)

In October 2006, Bachelet visited the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. Her trip overlapped with the highly controversial and flamboyant Chavez speech in which he called Bush the devil.

Citing the lack of national consensus on the hot issue, government spokesperson Ricardo Lagos W. announced on the eve of voting day that Chile would abstain from the election. Alvear said Socialist Party President Camilo Escalona were pleased with the decision. "Bachelet always said that she would make the decision with the best interest of Chile in mind, and the DC values the decision that she made" (The Santiago Times, October 15, 2006). After 47 rounds of voting during which neither Guatemala nor Venezuela edged out a two-thirds majority, a third compromise country, Panama, emerged and won the seat.

Pinochet Death
The former Chilean dictator's death on December 10, 2006 resurrected looming political divisions and debate over his legacy. Thousands of Chileans mourned the general's ripe demise while masses in Santiago popped champagne bottles in celebration of the death of a dictator. Bachelet stated that a decorated state funeral would "violate [her] conscience," and Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot was the only member of government to attend Pinochet's funeral.

Bachelet also reminded Chileans that they should not forget Pinochet's human rights abuses, but the hard-core Pinochet supporters credit him with rescuing the nation from communism in the 1970s and 1980s.

Catherine Housholder is a 2007 Smith College graduate with a major in Latin American Studies and a Santiago Times contributor. She received a grant to research Michelle Bachelet and gender in the 2005-2006 Chilean presidential race. For more information check out www.catherinehousholder.blogspot.com or email her at choushol@email.smith.edu.