Lee Teng-hui (born 1923) succeeded Chiang Chingkuo as president of the Republic of China and chairman of the ruling Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) in 1988. He was re-elected president by the National Assembly in 1990. Lee was the first Taiwanese to become head of state and chief executive of the country.

Lee Teng-hui was born in Sanchih, Taiwan. His grandfather was a well-educated village leader during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945). His father, a small landlord, was a manager at the local irrigation service of the Rural Cooperative Program. Upon graduation from grade school, Lee attended a Christian middle school and a high school enrolling mainly Japanese youth on Taiwan. As one of only four Taiwanese students in his high school, he had to work hard to prove that he was as good as, if not better than, his Japanese classmates.

Education and Early Career

In high school, Lee...