William Tubman

William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (November 29, 1895 – July 23, 1971) was President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971. He was an Americo-Liberian, a descendant of former American slaves who had been "returned" to Africa under the auspices of the American Colonization Society, a group favoring the manumission of slaves on Christian grounds. Tubman was born in Harper, Liberia. He was a member of the True Whig Party, which was for over a century the nation's sole legal political organization and closely tied to the Masonic Order. Before becoming the President of Liberia, he was a lawyer, a senator and associate justice of the Liberian Supreme Court. Regarded as a pro-Western, stabilizing influence in West Africa, he was courted by many Western politicians, notably U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was succeeded as President by his long-time vice president William Tolbert, the last Americo-Liberian President of Liberia,