Germany's Chancellor the 52yr old Angela Merkel was Inaugurated Nov 22, 2005. She is the first former citizen of the German Democratic Republic to lead the reunited Germany and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation-state in 1871. Her rise to the top comes as the result of personal perseverance and political fortuity. She's been laughed at, she's been antagonized and she's been underestimated. She is also, as of 2006, the youngest person to be chancellor since the Second World War. Merkel, considered by Forbes Magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world, is only the third woman to serve on the G8 and, on 1 January 2007, became the second woman to chair the G8 after Margaret Thatcher. Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and a conservative, described as the " Iron Lady", defied strong public opposition and came out in favor of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.