Education and Influences

Education

Benazir Bhutto was the first of four children of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto, who were wealthy landowners greatly involved in Pakistani politics. Because of their wealth, she grew up in a privileged household above Pakistan's feudal system. Bhutto's earliest influences were her family and her education. In her family, education was top-priority; as a result, she studied at Harvard's' Radcliffe College at age 16 and received a degree in government. By studying government at Harvard she began to understand the differences between democracy and dictatorship. Events such as the Watergate hearings, where the American people removed their government through democratic, constitutional means, gave her a firsthand experience of democracy in practice. Afterwards, she went to Oxford University studying political science, philosophy, and economics. There, Benazir Bhutto became president of Oxford Union, Oxford's debate team, where she mastered the art of debate and the power of oratory. The experience she gained in Oxford Union would translate into speaking before millions in the fields of Pakistan.

"I remember sitting spellbound in Professor Womack’s study where I was the only student who actually lived in a dictatorship… The authority of the dictators to govern were self-imposed, not a mandate from the people. I saw clearly for the first time why people In Pakistan saw no reason to obey this sort of regime, no reason to stop. Where there was no legitimate government, there was anarchy”. 

---Benazir Bhutto

Influences

Bhutto's biggest influence in politics was her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto was always brought up to be her father's successor to his dynasty in politics and finance from a very young age. Her father would take her to meet important foreign delegations visiting Pakistan. There she would meet world leaders like Chou En-Lai, a Premier of China, Henry Kissinger, one of the US Secretary of States, and Indira Gandhi, a great Prime Minister of India. The story goes that after her first meeting with Henry Kissinger, he went and told her dad ‘Mr Prime Minister, your daughter is even more intimidating than you are’. She would learn important political lessons at first hand including India-Pakistan war on Kashmir, the emergence of Bangladesh, the Shimla accord with India.

Benazir Bhutto in College