Lee Teng-hui's Democratic Presidency

Lee Teng-hui

Lee Teng-hui became Taiwan's first native-born president, successfully steering the island's transition into a pluralistic democracy and earning the moniker "Mr. Democracy." Following Chiang Ching-kuo's death, he deftly navigated conservative political resistance within the ruling party to enact sweeping constitutional amendments, dissolving the National Assembly and instituting direct presidential elections. While championing a bloodless democratic revolution, he vigorously advanced localization policies to solidify distinct Taiwanese civic identity. He comprehensively redefined the state's institutional structure, laying down the fundamental political framework and diplomatic orientation of contemporary democratic Taiwan.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Lee Teng-hui
1923	Birth of Lee Teng-hui (Period: January 15, 1923, Location: Sanchih Village, Shichisei District, Taihoku Prefecture, Taiwan under Japanese Rule (present-day Sanzhi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan))
1939	World War II (Age: 15 years old, Period: 1939–1945, Location: Iran)
1943	Advancement to Kyoto Imperial University (Age: 19 years old, Period: 1943–1944, Location: Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan)
1946	Transfer to National Taiwan University and Study of Agricultural Economics (Age: 22 years old, Period: 1946–1948, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1947	February 28 Incident (Age: 24 years old, Period: February 28–Around May 1947, Location: All Taiwan, Especially Taipei, Keelung, Kaohsiung, etc.)
1948	Graduation from National Taiwan University and Entry into Agricultural Administration (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 24 years old, Period: 1948–1950s, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1949	Marriage (Lee Teng-hui, Tseng Wen-fui, Age: 26 years old, Period: February 9, 1949, Location: Taiwan)
1950	Employment at Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction in Taiwan (Age: 26 years old, Period: 1950s–1970s, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1952	Graduate Study at Iowa State University (Age: 28 years old, Period: 1952–1953, Location: Ames, Iowa, United States)
1965	Obtaining Doctorate from Cornell University (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 41 years old, Period: 1965–1968, Location: Ithaca, New York, United States)
1972	Appointment as Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 49 years old, Period: June 1972, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1978	Appointment as Mayor of Taipei (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 55 years old, Period: June 1978–1981, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1981	Appointment as Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 57 years old, Period: 1981–1984, Location: Taiwan)
1984	Assumption of Office as Vice President of the Republic of China (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 61 years old, Period: May 20, 1984, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1988	Assumption of Office as President of the Republic of China (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 64 years old, Period: January 13, 1988, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
1991	Full Re-election of the National Assembly (Age: 67 years old, Period: 1991–1992, Location: Taiwan) Termination of the Period of Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion (Age: 68 years old, Period: May 1, 1991, Location: Taiwan)
1995	Taiwan Strait Crisis (Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, Age: 71 years old, Period: 1995–1996, Location: Taiwan Strait, Fujian Coast, Waters Around Taiwan) Visit to Cornell University and "Always in My Heart" Speech (Age: 72 years old, Period: June 1995, Location: Ithaca, New York, United States)
1996	Taiwan's First Direct Presidential Election (Age: 73 years old, Period: March 23, 1996, Location: All Taiwan)
1999	Proposal of the Two-State Theory (Age: 76 years old, Period: July 9, 1999, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
2000	Stepping Down as President and Resigning as Kuomintang Chairman (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 77 years old, Period: May 20, 2000, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)
2001	Formation of Taiwan Solidarity Union (Age: 78 years old, Period: August 2001, Location: Taiwan)
2020	Death of Lee Teng-hui (Age: 97 years old, Period: July 30, 2020 (aged 97)) Death of Lee Teng-hui (Lee Teng-hui, Age: 97 years old, Period: July 30, 2020, Location: Taipei, Taiwan)

Map

Category
Element

Asia World

Group	List
Founding of the PRC	Deng Xiaoping Mao Zedong Zhou Enlai Lin Biao Liu Shaoqi Zhu De Chen Yun Jiang Qing Hua Guofeng Ye Jianying Wang Hongwen Zhang Chunqiao
Nation-building in Taiwan	Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Ching-kuo Chen Cheng Yen Chia-kan Lee Teng-hui Sun Li-jen Koo Chen-fu James Soong (Soong Chu-yu) Kang Ning-hsiang Shih Ming-teh
State-building in South Korea	Syngman Rhee Park Chung-hee Chun Doo-hwan Roh Tae-woo Kim Young-sam Kim Dae-jung Chang Myon Kim Jong-pil Lee Byung-chul Chung Ju-yung Kim Jae-gyu
Post-war Reconstruction of Japan	Shigeru Yoshida Ichiro Hatoyama Nobusuke Kishi Hayato Ikeda Eisaku Sato Kakuei Tanaka Takeo Fukuda Masayoshi Ohira Yasuhiro Nakasone Takeo Miki

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Lee Teng-hui's Democratic Presidency

Lee Teng-hui

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