Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese-Chinese economist and politician, 4th President of the Republic of China (d. 2020) was born on January 15, 1923.

January 15, 1923

Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese-Chinese economist and politician, 4th President of the Republic of China (d. 2020) was born on January 15, 1923.

Lee Teng-hui was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the first president to be born in Taiwan, the last to be indirectly elected and the first to be directly elected. During his presidency, Lee oversaw the end of martial law and the full democratization of the ROC, advocated the Taiwanese localization movement, and led an ambitious foreign policy to gain allies around the world. Nicknamed "Mr. Democracy", Lee was credited as the president who initiated Taiwan's transition to the democratic era.