Golda Meir was born May 3, 1898 in Kiev, Russia and
migrated to the United States in 1906, settling in
Wisconsin. She carried the name Meyerson until the
1950s and attended Milwaukee's Teachers Seminary.
In her teens she came into contact with Zionist
organizations and became a U.S. delegate to the U.S.
section of the World Jewish Congress. After Britain
issued the Balfour Declaration (to create a Jewish
homeland in Palestine) in 1917, Golda decided
to immigrate. Quickly becoming a leading figure in
the Labor Party after its founding in 1930 and by 1948
she was a prominent co-founder of the Israeli state.

Beginning as an ambassador to Moscow for 7
months she returned to Israel and joined the parliament (Knesset). She was Israel's Labor Minister (1949-1956)
and oversaw the integration of tens of thousands of immigrants. In 1956 she became foreign minister and changed her name to a more Hebrew-sounding one (Meir). As foreign minister she was involved in the secret planning of the Israeli/British/French attact on Egypt in October 1956.

In the late 60's Golda served two years as the Labor Party's
secretary-general and when Prime Minister Eshkol died
in 1969, Golda agreed to take his place despite frail health.
Maintaining a good relationship with the U.S. that
she established during her time as foreign minister she
ensured important military supplies for her country.
During this time she resisted calls for negotiations with Palestinian leaders and in 1973 she rejected a pre-emptive strike against Israel's Arab neighbors by not mobilizing the reserves. This almost lead Israel to lose the war when it came into play during the Egyptian and Syrian attacks during the Yom Kippur holiday. Israel, however turned the war around, with U.S. help, placed the attackers on the defensive. The Soviet and U.S. intervention finally stopped the war. Negotiations brokered by U.S. secretary of State (Henry Kissinger) later lead to a troop disengagement in early 1974. In April 1974, Golda handed the job of prime minister to colleague Yitzak Rabin.

She suffered from leukemia since 1966 and died from viral hepatitis in Jerusalem on December 8, 1978 at the age of 80.