On Tuesday, the IMF's 24-member board decided she should become the first woman to lead the global lending organization, which is recovering from a sex scandal involving the man she'll replace.

When Christine Lagarde begins a five-year term next week, Lagarde will take charge of a melting pot of international elites - one that was known for male-dominated clubbiness well before the scandal involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn, her predecessor.