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Cherie Blair is probably best known as the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. But since leaving England's most famous political address, she has become a champion for women's rights and education around the globe. CARL COURT/ AFP GETTY IMAGES/ File
Blair hugs her husband outside 10 Downing Street on May 2, 1997 following the Labour Party's victory in the country's general election. But Blair tells CNN that when she met a young Tony Blair while training to be a lawyer, he didn't leave a good impression. "I thought he's just another one of these public school boys but then we worked together and ... he made a different impression on me." GERRY PENNY/AFP/Getty Images/File
The prominent British barrister says husband Tony has always been a hands-on father sharing parenting duties equally with her while she continued to advance her career as a barrister. Courtesy Cherie Blair
As her spouse rose in the political ranks, Blair -- who professionally goes by her maiden name of "Cherie Booth" -- carved out a successful career first as an attorney, then in 1995 (pictured here with her family) she received the senior advocate status of Queen's Counsel. Courtesy Cherie Blair
While living at Downing Street, Blair felt her horizons widen as she realized how "privileged" she was. It reinvigorated her passion for women's rights and her continued fight for gender equality. VLADIMIR RODIONOV/AFP/Getty Images/File
In 2008, she established the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women aimed at providing education and financial aid to female entrepreneurs internationally. With projects in Ghana, Tanzania and Rwanda, the foundation continues to empower local women with the necessary tools to enhance their businesses. Here Blair visits a women's initiative center in India in March 2013. SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images/File
Cherie Blair poses with president of the NGO 'Fondation Espoir et Vie' Pauline Lambou Ngouanfou during the New York Forum Africa in Libreville on June 15, 2013. The forum, dedicated to the economic development of Africa, brings together nearly 700 economic policymakers. Steve Jordan/AFP/Getty Images/File
Blair says she hopes she will be remembered "as someone who tried to do her best, and who fought for the causes she believed in.... I think on my gravestone, I'd like it to say 'Cherie Blair, wife, mother and feminist'." Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images/File
