Angela Merkel recounts being the first and only in new memoir : Consider This from NPR

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and US President Donald Trump speak during a bilateral meeting at the G7 Summit in 2019. Trump is one of four U.S. Presidents Merkel worked with during her time as Germany’s Chancellor.

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

In her new memoir, Angela Merkel writes about the many dilemmas she had to navigate as Chancellor of Germany. Dilemmas her male colleagues never had to sweat. Like, can you wear a pantsuit instead of a skirt in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament? She decided the answer was, yes.

Merkel is the only woman ever to rise to the most powerful political post in Germany. She served as chancellor from 2005 to 2021.

Angela Merkel has gone toe-to-toe with world leaders like Vladimir Putin, led Germany through times of turmoil and become a role model for other women aspiring to positions of leadership. But her legacy is complex.

She gets into all of this in her new memoir, “Freedom.”

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Erika Ryan and Esme Nicholson, with audio engineering by Andie Huether.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.