issued Oct.29th,1984 President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,born 1937, (right,Pres.Chun left) ruled the Maldive Islands for thirty years,1978-2008.His rule was autocratic,if not dictatorial.However under his rule the Maldives developed well,so he is still liked by many people.
issued Feb.24th,1988 Former general Roh-Tae-Woo (born 1932) was the handpicked candidate for succession of president-dictator Chun. However Roh insisted on a democratic election. As both Kims also run,Roh could win with less than 40% of the vote. In his presidency(1988-1993)he worked to establish a democraticly ruled South-Korea. A few years later he was put on trial for high treason,due to his role in the coup d`etat,what brought Chun Doo Hwan into power.He got a lengthy jail term - Chun got the death-penalty -,but both former presidents were pardoned very soonly.
issued Feb.25th,1993 Kim Young-sam,president from 1993-1998 was a leading member of the opposition against the military rulers of South Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. In the run-up to the 1993 election he merged his party with that of Ro Tae-woo, president from 1988-1993.So he could secure a majority. He ended the rule of the military and put the former presidents Chun and Rho on trial for high treason for their part in the 1979 coup de etat.
Kim Dae jung 1924-2009.president of South-Korea 1998-2003 Kim studied in a commercial college and started woking in a shipping company in 1943.After independence from Japan in 1945,he became the head of that company till 1955. In 1954 he entered politics.He was a candidate in the presidential elections of 1955,but lost against Syngman Rhee.He headed the opposition against Park Chung-Hee,but lost again in the 1971 presidential elections. 1972 he went into exile to Japan,but was kidnapped by the Korean Secret Service in 1973 and was brought back to Korea.He remained in prison or house arrest till 1979.After the Kwangju Massaker he was put on trial for high treason and was sentenced to death.Under international pressure president Chun Doo Hwan commuted his sentence to 20 years imprisonment in 1980. However in 1982 he was allowed to leave for the US.He returned to Korea in 1985.In 1987 and 1992 he lost twice,but did win the presidential elections of 1987.During his presidency 1988-1993,he was the first president of South Korea,who visited North Korea,where he met Kim jong-il.That won him the Peace Nobel Prize of 2000.
Issued Feb.21st,1975,commemorating the first anniversary of Laos peace accord.(from a set of 3) From left to right: prime minister Prince Souvanna Phouma (neutralist), King Savang Vatthana and Prince Souphanouvong (1909-1995) nominal leader of the communist Pathet Lao and president of the Lao Republic from 1975-1991. Souphanouvong,called "The Red Prince" became president,when the communist Pathet Lao took power in 1975 and the monarchy was abolished. He remained president till 1991,but because of health reasons stepped aside in 1986 and Phoumi Voungvichit became acting president.
I nearly forgot,that there is one more stamp,showing president Prince Souphanouvong: issued Dec.2nd,1982; from a set of 7,"Peoples Republic 7th anniversary";
Muhammed Ayub Khan 1907-1974 was the youngest general Pakistan ever had. He became chief of the armed forces in 1951.In 1954 he became minister for defence.In a coup d´etat 1958 he became president of Pakistan. During his rule he strengthened the ties to China,as an ally against India. When the prime minister of India J.Nehru died in 1964,Ayub Khan saw a chance to conquer Kashmir.He started the second Indo-Pakistan War in 1965. Militarily it went not to bad,but there was no real gain.The Soviet Union brokered a peace deal in Tashkent,what led to the status quo ante. The economy of Pakistan however,was damaged badly by that war. Ayub Khan met troubles on many more fields: in East-Pakistan,with Z.A.Bhutto (his former foreign minister) and with a worsening health. In 1969 he resigned and gave the presidency to general Yahya Khan.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928 - 1979) was born in Sindh province into a noble Rajput-family,what had converted to Islam.After his studies in Britain,USA etc.he returned to Pakistan in 1953 and practised as a lawyer. When Ayub Khan seized power,Bhutto held several ministerial posts and became foreign minister in 1963. When Ayub´s star began to sink,after the desastrous 1965-war aginst India,Bhutto resigned,formed his own party (Pakistan People´s Party) and "fought" against the "dictatorship of Ayub". Bhutto was shortly imprisoned and sided with General Yahya Khan, when he overthrew Ayub. Yahya was forced to hold elections in 1970.Bhutto´s P.P.P. won by a large margin in West-Pakistan,while the Awami-League won in East-Pakistan. At the time East-Pakistan had a bigger population than the West and therefore the Awami-League,asking for a total autonomy for the East,had the majority of seats in the Pakistan parliament. However Bhutto,backed by the Military would not accept a government formed by the Awami-League,nor would he join in a coalition-government. The Awami-League then declared independence from Pakistan under the name Bangladesh. The Pakistan Army tried to quell the "unrest" with outmost brutal force,leading to an independence war.India intervened,the Pakistan Army was defeated and Bangladesh became independent. According to Bangladesh about three million people died and twenty million refugees fled to India. Bhutto took power in West-Pakistan,now Pakistan. 1973 a new consttution was put in place,what shifted the political power to the prime minister and left a ceremonial role for the president.Bhutto became prime minister. After an presumably rigged election,the army took power again in 1977 and Bhutto was deposed. He later was put on trial,not for his role in the Bangladesh-tragedy, but for having ordered the assassination of a political foe in 1974. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. Several foreign governments pleaded for clemency and,- yes capital punishment is an uncivilized punishment - nevertheless,Bhutto was hanged on April 4th,1979.
Wilhelm Piek (1876-1960) was the first and only president of the DDR (GDR). The above stamps (plus 5 Pf. and 12 Pf.,same as 24 Pf.) were issued as definitives on May 27th,1950.An additional 5.- DM value was issued on Jan.3rd,1951.(DDR Wmk.1) The set,except of the 5.- DM value,was reissued with a different watermark (DDR Wmk.2) from August 1952 till 1953. The 1.- DM and 2.- DM-values were issued in a new design in 1953, on paper with DDR Wmk.2. Both stamps were re-issued in 1957/58 on paper with DDR Wmk.3. There are slight differences in colours and size as well. Wilhelm Piek was born in Guben as son of a coachman.A carpenter by profession,he was engaged in the early trade-unions and workers- rights movements.As a conscripted soldier during the First World War he agitated against the war and was put on a court-marshall trial. Before the end of the trial,he could escape and went underground. When the war ended,he became political active again.He was a co-founder of the KPD 1920 (Communist Party of Germany) and remained in leading positions,till Hitler came to power. Piek fled to France and on to Russia.He survived the Stalin-purges and returned to Germany after the end of WW II. When in early 1946 the merger of the KPD and the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) was forced by the communists, Piek became co-chairman of the newly formed SED (Socialist Unified Party of Germany),a position he held till his death. In 1949,when the two german states were established,Piek was named President of the DDR. However both functions,SED-co-chairman and president were more a function of representation,than of real political power.The real leader was Walter Ulbricht,the chairman of the ZK (Central Committee) of the SED. mourning s.s.,issued Sept.10th,1960 After Piek´s death,the post of a president of the DDR was abolished and replaced by a gremium: the "Staatsrat" (state-council),headed by Walter Ulbricht as chairman.
Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973),here seen on a definitive, issued June 25th,1963. Born in Saxony he became a carpenter of furniture.In 1912 he became a member of the SPD.During the war he drifted more and more to the left and joined the USPD in 1917.As a conscripted soldier he served on the eastern front.After Russia was defeated, he was sent in 1918 to the western front,but deserted and went into hiding.After the war he joined the KPD and became a leading member in many different positions.In October 1933 he emigrated and lived for some years in Paris,before he went to Moscow in 1939. As he was also a member of the Communist Party of Russia and a strict follower of Stalin,he played a leading role in the exiled german communist movement.After the end of WW II,Ulbricht went back to Germany as the foremost representative of Stalin. When the GDR was established in 1949,he became her undisputed leader,although he did not hold any top-position,for a while. When the Stalinists were swept from power in Russia and Eastern- Europe after Stalin´s death,he alone remained. After the death of president Piek in 1960,the office of the president was abolished and was replaced by that of the "Staatsratsvorsitzenden". Walter Ulbricht held this office till his death. However,when Ulbricht promoted a policy of greater independence from Russia at the end of the 60th,very much to the displeasure of the soviet leadership,Leonid Breshniev pacted with an inner opposition group in the GDR,to topple Ulbricht. This was done on May 3rd,1971 in a coup-like action under the leadership of Erich Honnecker,who did replace Ulbricht in all postions, except that of the head of state (Staatsratsvorsitzender). Ulbricht with the visiting russian cosmonaut German Titow,issued Dec.11th,1961 and definitive,issued Aug.29th,1961.
It is quite amazing,that here very little is known about the numerous presidents of the US.Washington is know,as having led a successful rebellion against the British,but also that he was a slave-holder in the "land of the free". From 19th century only Lincoln is well known. In 20th century Th.Roosevelt is more notorious than famous. Wilson is known to few people as having helped France and Britain to win WW I,but failed in establishing fair peace-treaties,what led the way, among other matters,to WW II. F.D.Roosevelt stands for the "New Deal" and his failure to contain Stalin. Next one known is Kennedy,because he was assassinated and his interesting private life.Here in Germany he is known best for having said:"ich bin ein Berliner". Nixon is known as a crook,but nevertheless a capable politician. Two more recent,positively seen presidents are Clinton and Obama and to a lesser degree,Bush sen. Bush jun. was widely regarded as a laughing-stock,but at least an honest one. No word about the present office-holder ! I guess in the US you learn more about your former presidents.But here not much more is known about them,than you may learn about the leaders of France,from Napoleon till today.
Boleslav Bierut (1882-1956),born in Lublin,followed a typical career of a communist politician between the wars. When Poland was freed from german occupation in 1944/45 he was Stalin´s man in Warsaw.After having ousted Gomulka,he took over as head of the communist party and president of Poland in 1947. His rule was brutal and rutheless like that of his mentor Stalin. He was in Moscow in 1956,where he read Khushchev´s secret speech, in which he condemned Stalinism.It is said that caused a heart-attack, leading to Bierut´s death a fortnight later. stamps: Poland definitive,issued Dec.16th,1950 GDR,issued April 22nd,1951 showing Wilhelm Piek on the left and Boleslav Bierut on right,shaking hands across the Oder-Neisse-Line. (Polands new border with post-war Germany)
My favorite President stamp is the Rutherford B. Hayes that was printed from 1922 to 1931 in probably more common shades that any other stamp printed by the BEP in the 20th century. Here's a sample.
