Samuel Doe

Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951 – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician and military officer who served as the 21st President of Liberia from 1986 until his execution in 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1986 and then as the first native president from 1986 to 1990.

A member of the Krahn ethnic group, Doe was a master sergeant in the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) when he staged the violent 1980 coup d'état that overthrew President William Tolbert and the True Whig Party, becoming the first indigenous leader of Liberia and ending 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule. Doe suspended the Constitution of Liberia, assumed the rank of general, and established the PRC as a provisional military government with himself as de facto head of state.

Doe dissolved the PRC in 1984 and attempted to legitimize his regime, with a new democratic constitution and a general election held in 1985. He won with 51% of the votes, but the election had widespread allegations of election fraud. Doe opened Liberian ports to Canadian, Chinese, and European ships, which brought in considerable foreign investment and earned Liberia's reputation as a tax haven. Doe had support from the United States due to his anti-Soviet stance during the Cold War.

Doe's rule was characterized by authoritarianism, corruption, favoritism towards fellow Krahns, and persecution of the Dan and Mano tribes, particularly after surviving a coup attempt in 1985, which led to growing opposition to his regime from the Liberian public and the United States. The First Liberian Civil War began in December 1989 when the anti-Doe National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast to overthrow him.