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Jewel Taylor
Jewel Taylor
	Taylor in 2018
30th Vice President of Liberia
	In office; 22 January 2018 – 22 January 2024
President	George Weah
Preceded by	Joseph Boakai
Succeeded by	Jeremiah Koung
Member of the Senate of Liberia; for Bong County
	In office; 13 January 2006 – 22 January 2018
Preceded by	NTLA
Succeeded by	Henrique Tokpa
First Lady of Liberia
	In role; 2 August 1997 – 11 August 2003
President	Charles Taylor
Preceded by	Nancy Doe
Succeeded by	Nettie Blah
Personal details
Born	Jewel Cianeh Howard; 17 January 1963 (age 61); Zorzor, Lofa, Liberia
Political party	Coalition for Democratic Change
Other political; affiliations	National Patriotic Party
Spouse	Charles Taylor (m. 1997; div. 2006)
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Liberia; Cuttington University
Occupation	Politician

Jewel Cianeh Taylor (née Howard; born 17 January 1963) is a Liberian politician who served as the 30th vice president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. She was married to convicted warlord and former president Charles Taylor from 1997 to 2006 and was first lady of Liberia during his presidency.^[2] In 2005, Jewel Taylor was elected to the Senate of Liberia for Bong County as a member of the National Patriotic Party. She was Chair of the Senate Health and Social Welfare Committee on Gender, Women and Children.^[3]

Life and career

While her husband was president, Taylor held several official posts in the Liberian government, including Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Liberia (forerunner to the current Central Bank of Liberia), President of the Agriculture Cooperative and Development Bank (ACDB) and Mortgage Financing Underwriter of the First Union National Bank. In addition, she focused on educational, health, and social projects.

Taylor holds a graduate degree in banking and two bachelors' in banking and economics. She is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Cuttington University in Liberia.^{[citation needed]} On 21 December 2011, she graduated from the Louise Arthur Grimes School of Law of the state-owned University of Liberia.^[4] Two days later, a public dispute arose in Bong County regarding honors allegedly given her; she was announced to be the new holder of the title "Madam Suakoko",^[5] an honorary Bong County title memorializing the namesake of the Suakoko District, but members of the group that had supposedly awarded her the title soon began denying that the award had been given by their group, saying that the meeting at which she was awarded the title was a meeting to help county residents overcome political differences.^[6]

In February 2012, Taylor attempted to introduce legislation into the Liberian parliament that would have made homosexual activity a first-degree felony carrying the death penalty as the maximum punishment. The legislation was not passed after President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said she would not sign any such bill.^[7]

In 2017, Taylor was chosen by George Weah as his running mate on the newly formed Coalition (CDC) ticket. Following a runoff in late 2017, she became the first female Vice President of Liberia when her party won the elections.

In 2020, she was infected with COVID-19 and was flown to Ghana for treatment.^[8]

References

^ Menjor, David S. (6 August 2018). "Election: Joseph, Tokpa Replace Weah, Taylor at Senate". Liberian Observer. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ "Jewel Howard-Taylor on war, Weah and her agenda". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
^ A Profile of Members of the 52nd Legislature of Liberia
^ "Alumni – Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law". www.lagsl.edu.lr. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
^ "Madam Suakoko! Sen. Taylor Receives Traditional Honor". The Analyst 2011-12-29: 1, 2.
^ "Sen. Taylor's Traditional Honor Backfires^{[permanent dead link‍]}", The New Republic, 2012-01-20. Accessed 2013-01-13.
^ "Liberia ex-first lady proposes anti-gay bill". Africa Review. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
^ "Liberia VP Jewel Howard-Taylor flown to Ghana for Covid-19 treatment". ca.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.

Honorary titles
Preceded by Nancy Doe	First Lady of Liberia 1997–2003	Succeeded by Nettie Blah
Political offices
Preceded by Joseph Boakai	Vice President of Liberia 2018–2024	Succeeded by Jeremiah Koung