Samuel K. Doe
| Samuel K. Doe | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 21st President of Liberia | |
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In office 12 April 1980 – 9 September 1990 |
|
| Vice President | Harry F. Moniba |
| Preceded by | William R. Tolbert, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Amos Sawyer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 6, 1951 Tuzon, Liberia |
| Died | September 9, 1990 (aged 39) Monrovia, Liberia |
| Political party | National Democratic |
| Religion | Baptist |
Samuel Kanyon Doe (May 6, 1951 – September 9, 1990) was a Liberian politician who served as the leader of Liberia from 1980 to 1990. Then Master Sergeant Doe served as chairman of the People's Redemption Council and de facto head of state after staging a violent coup d'etat in 1980; he killed President William R. Tolbert, Jr., and executed many of his True Whig Party supporters.
Doe disbanded the constitution and headed the country's military junta for the next five years. In 1985 he ordered an election and officially became the 21st President of Liberia. The election was marked by controversy as there was evidence of election fraud. Doe enjoyed decisive support from the United States; it was a strategic alliance due to his anti-Soviet stance taken during the years of the Cold War prior to the changes in 1989 that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Doe, a member of the Krahn tribe from inland Liberia, was the first indigenous head of state in Liberian history. His people are a largely rural minority ethnic group and indigenous, like 95% of Liberians. Historically indigenous Liberians had been marginalized in the colonial-style society developed by the group known as the Americo-Liberians, made up of immigrants and their descendants. They were descended from the free-born and formerly enslaved black people, primarily from the United States, who founded Liberia in 1847 after it had been started as a colony in the late 1820s.
Doe opened Liberian ports to Canadian, Chinese and European ships. This brought in considerable foreign investment from foreign shipping firms and earned Liberia a reputation as a tax haven.
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