Barack Obama paid tribute to Gloria Steinem following her death on Wednesday at 92. The former president looked back at her legacy and praised her tireless activism fighting for women’s rights.
“Some people put their ideas out in the world and hope they
catch on. Not Gloria Steinem,” Obama began in his remembrance shared to social media. “Through her writing, her speeches, and her organizing, she demanded that the world pay attention to all the ways that women had been — and in some cases, still are — treated unfairly. And she helped awaken us to problems like domestic violence, the lack of affordable child care, and unfair hiring practices that had too often been ignored or overlooked.”
Obama called the pioneering feminist “larger than life.” He continued, “Today, generations of women are walking a little taller and aiming a little higher because of what she fought for and achieved. Michelle and I are thinking of her family today, and everyone — women and men — who were inspired by her towering example.”
In 2013, Obama awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s top civilian honor, for her dedication to activism throughout her storied career. After serving as a founding editor and writer at New York magazine, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine in 1971. The publication was regarded as the first national magazine owned, run, and written for women, and was a galvanizing voice in the women’s movement.
Hillary Clinton, who saw Steinem support her 2016 presidential campaign, told CBS News that she was “heartsick” over the news of her death. In a separate statement, Clinton wrote that Steinem “became one of the architects of the entire structure of women’s equality.” “Don’t get discouraged or narrow your world to your own problems. Find ways to reach out and lift up others. When you do, it’s going to expand your universe,” Clinton said. “Be like Gloria: Embody possibility, and extend it. In us, she will live on.”
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