Valdas Adamkus
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His Excellency Valdas Adamkus |
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| President of Lithuania | |
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In office 12 July 2004 – 12 July 2009 |
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| Prime Minister |
Algirdas Brazauskas Zigmantas Balčytis (Acting) Gediminas Kirkilas Andrius Kubilius |
| Preceded by | Artūras Paulauskas (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Dalia Grybauskaitė |
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In office 26 February 1998 – 26 February 2003 |
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| Prime Minister |
Gediminas Vagnorius Irena Degutienė (Acting) Rolandas Paksas Irena Degutienė (Acting) Andrius Kubilius Rolandas Paksas Eugenijus Gentvilas (Acting) Algirdas Brazauskas |
| Preceded by | Algirdas Brazauskas |
| Succeeded by | Rolandas Paksas |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
3 November 1926 Kaunas, Lithuania |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse(s) | Alma Adamkienė |
| Profession | Civil engineer, civil servant |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Signature |  |
Valdas Adamkus ([ˈvɐ̂ˑɫd̪ɐs ɐˈd̪ɐmˑkʊs]; born 3 November 1926) is a Lithuanian politician. He was the President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.
In Lithuania, the President's tenure lasts for five years; Adamkus' first term in office began on 26 February 1998 and ended on 28 February 2003, following his defeat by Rolandas Paksas in the next presidential election. Paksas was later impeached and removed from office by a parliamentary vote on 6 April 2004. Soon afterwards, when a new election was announced, Adamkus again ran for president and was re-elected. His approval ratings were high and he was regarded as a moral authority in the state. He was succeeded as the president on 12 July 2009 by Dalia Grybauskaitė.
He is married to Alma Adamkienė, who is involved in charitable activities in Lithuania. The President remains involved in international development, and is a member of the European Academy of Diplomacy.
Adamkus was born into a Roman Catholic family in Kaunas. His father was one of the first heads of the Lithuanian Air Force School in the Republic of Lithuania. As a young man, Adamkus joined the underground against the first Soviet occupation of 1940. During World War II, his family fled Lithuania in order to avoid the second Soviet occupation in 1944. He attended the University of Munich in Germany before emigrating to the United States in 1949. Fluent in five languages — Lithuanian, Polish, English, Russian, and German — he served as a senior non-commissioned officer with the United States 5th Army Reserve's military intelligence unit in the 1950s. During his youth, Adamkus was interested in track and field. He also set national record at 100 metres running. In 1951, Adamkus got married to Alma Nutautaite. However, they have no children.
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