The former president lauded the trailblazer’s efforts to advance workplace gender equality, combat domestic violence, and champion other critical causes.
Barack Obama honored Gloria Steinem following her death on Wednesday at age 92. The former president reflected on her enduring legacy and praised her relentless activism for women’s rights.
“Some people share their ideas and hope they catch on. Not Gloria Steinem,” Obama said in a social‑media tribute. “Through her writing, speeches, and organizing, she demanded that the world recognize how women had been—and in many cases still are—treated unfairly. She helped us confront issues such as domestic violence, the scarcity of affordable childcare, and biased hiring practices that were long ignored.”
Obama described the pioneering feminist as “larger than life.” He added, “Today’s generations of women stand a little taller and aim a little higher because of what she fought for and achieved. Michelle and I are thinking of her family and of everyone—both women and men—who were inspired by her remarkable example.”
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In 2013, Obama presented Steinem with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in recognition of her lifelong commitment to activism. After serving as a founding editor and writer at New York magazine, Steinem co‑founded Ms. magazine in 1971. The publication became the first national magazine owned, operated, and written for women, serving as a powerful catalyst for the women’s movement.
Hillary Clinton, who received Steinem’s support during her 2016 presidential campaign, said she was “heartsick” upon learning of her death. In a separate statement, Clinton called Steinem “one of the architects of women’s equality.” “Don’t get discouraged or limit your world to your own problems. Find ways to reach out and lift others up. When you do, it expands your universe,” Clinton wrote. “Be like Gloria: embody possibility and extend it. In us, she will live on.”
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