World Leaders

Mexico / Enrique Pena Nieto

• Personal problems have not stopped his career
• He fathered two children with his affairs
• May have killed his wife 
• Married a soap opera star

China / Xi Jinping

• Son of one of the Communist Party's founding fathers
• Married a folk singer, Peng Lijuan 
• He sent his daughter to America to study at Harvard

India / Narendra Modi 

• Was in an arranged marriage but rejected it when he graduated from high school
• He was a "keen debater" in high school 
• He was always an independent thinker
• Has worked his way up from the low class of society 

Russia / Vladimir Putin

• He graduated from Leningrad State University with a law degree in 1975
• Began his career in the KGB as an intelligence officer
• Held that position until 1990 and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel 
• The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union 

Germany / Angela Merkel 

• Graduated with a degree in physics and physical chemistry; earned a PhD in quantum chemistry 
• Has been Chancellor since November 2005
• Merkel is #1 on the 2016 FORBES list of Most Powerful Women in The World and has been for 11 of the past 13 years

United Kingdom / Theresa May (and the Queen)

• She took over for David Cameron when he resigned
• Cameron wanted to stay in the EU and ended up retiring 
• She has been Queen for over 65 years and counting 

France / Emmanuel Macron

• Has no previous experience in an elected national government position
• He was an investment banker before entering politics
• Elected at 39, he is the youngest President in the history of France
• He is married to a woman 24 years older than him
• His wife was his high school teacher 

Japan / Shinzo Abe (and Emperor)

• Abe's father and his grandfather were politicians 
• He married the daughter of the Prime Minister
• The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and the traditional head of state of Japan
• According to the 1947 constitution, he is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people"

Italy / Sergio Mattarella

• His father was an anti-fascist who helped found the Christian Democracy party, which dominated the Italian political scene for almost fifty years 
• Has been the world leader of Italy for almost three years

Syria / Bashar al-Assad