1968 President of Singapore

Yusof bin Ishak (12 August 1910 – 23 November 1970) was an eminent Singaporean politician and the first President of Singapore. His portrait appears on the Singapore Portrait Series currency notes introduced in 1999.

Yusof was well known both as a journalist and the founder of the Malay newspaper Utusan Melayu prior to becoming head of state of Singapore. He was married to Noor Aishah.

He first served as Yang di-Pertuan Negara (head of state) between 1959 and 1965, remaining in office during the time that Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965. Following Singapore's departure from Malaysia in 1965, he served as the first President of the Republic until his death in 1970.

Yusof is buried at Kranji State Cemetery.

1968 French Republic President

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969. The 18th President of French Republic and Co-Prince of Andora

As President, Charles de Gaulle ended the political chaos that preceded his return to power. A new French currency was issued in January 1960 to control inflation and industrial growth was promoted. Although he initially supported French rule over Algeria, he controversially decided to grant independence to that country, ending an expensive and unpopular war but leaving France divided and having to face down opposition from the white settlers and French military who had originally supported his return to power.

De Gaulle oversaw the development of French atomic weapons and promoted a pan-European foreign policy, seeking independence from U.S. and British influence. He withdrew France from NATO military command - although remaining a member of the western alliance - and twice vetoed Britain's entry into the European Community. He travelled widely in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world and recognised Communist China. On a visit to Canada he gave encouragement to Quebec Separatism.

During his term, de Gaulle also faced controversy and political opposition from Communists and Socialists. Despite having been re-elected as President, this time by direct popular ballot, in 1965, in May 1968 he appeared likely to lose power amidst widespread protests by students and orkers, but survived the crisis with an increased majority in the Assembly. However, de Gaulle resigned after losing a referendum in 1969. He is considered by many to be the most influential leader in modern French history.

1968 ruler of Abu Dhabi of UAE

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎)‎, (1918 – 2 November 2004), the principal architect of United Arab Emirates (UAE), was the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE for over 30 years (1971-2004).

Zayed was the youngest son of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the traditional ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1922 to 1926. He was named after his famous grandfather, Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, who ruled the emirate from 1855 to 1909. On August 6, 1966 he succeeded his brother, Sheikh Shakhbut Bin-Sultan Al Nahyan, as emir of Abu Dhabi after the latter was deposed in a bloodless palace coup. Zayed was first appointed (by the other six Sheikhs on the Supreme Council) to the presidency of the UAE in 1971 and was reappointed on four further occasions: 1976, 1981, 1986, and 1991. He was considered a relatively liberal ruler, and permitted private media. However, they were expected to practice self-censorship and avoid criticism of Zayed or the ruling families.

He was the ruler of the Eastern Region form 1946 before becoming the ruler of the whole Abu Dhabi.

1968 Prime Minister of Japan

Eisaku Satō (Satō Eisaku?, March 27, 1901 – June 3, 1975) was a Japanese politician and the 61st, 62nd and 63rd Prime Minister of Japan, elected on November 9, 1964, and re-elected on February 17, 1967, and January 14, 1970, serving until July 7, 1972. He was the longest serving prime minister in the history of Japan.

1968 was a pivotal year for Japan, as it marked the beginning of Eisaku Sato's tenure as Prime Minister. Sato, who served as Prime Minister from November 9, 1964 to December 25, 1972, is considered one of Japan's most important and influential leaders of the 20th century.

During his tenure, Sato implemented a number of important policies that helped to solidify Japan's position as a major economic power. One of his most notable achievements was the introduction of the "Japan-US Joint Communique" which normalized the relationship between the two countries and set the stage for Japan's economic growth. He also focused on domestic policies, such as the improvement of living standards of citizens and the promotion of science and technology to spur economic development.

Sato also played a key role in Japan's foreign policy during this time period, particularly in its relations with the United States and Southeast Asia. He established diplomatic relations with a number of Southeast Asian countries and worked to improve relations between Japan and its former colonies.

Sato's tenure as Prime Minister also saw the rise of the student movement and protests for democratic reforms, which he handled with great care and tact. He was able to maintain stability and order while also pushing for political and social reforms.

In recognition of his contributions to Japan's development, Sato was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, becoming the first Japanese Prime Minister to receive the award. He was recognized for his efforts to promote peace in Asia and for his contributions to the improvement of Japan-US relations.

Overall, Eisaku Sato played a crucial role in shaping Japan's economic and political landscape during his tenure as Prime Minister in 1968 and his legacy continues to be felt to this day.

1968 Indonesia's President

Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was the second President of Indonesia. He held the office from 1967 following Sukarno's removal up to his resignation in 1998.

Suharto was born in a small village near Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial controera. His Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and for much of his childhood he was passed between foster parents. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organised Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined the newly-formed Indonesian army. Following Indonesian independence, Suharto rose to the rank of Major General. An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops, was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. An army led anti-communist purge, killed over half a million people, and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno. He was appointed acting president in 1967 and President the following year. Support for Suharto's presidency eroded following the hardship of 1997–98 Asian financial crisis. He was forced to resign from the presidency in May 1998 and he died in 2008.

The legacy of Suharto's 32-year rule is debated both in Indonesia and abroad. Under his "New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralised and military-dominated government. An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant economic growth and industrialisation, dramatically improving health, education and living standards. Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor during Suharto's presidency, resulted in at least 100,000 deaths. By the 1990s, the New Order's authoritarianism and widespread corruption was a source of discontent. In the years since his presidency, attempts to try him on charges of corruption and genocide failed because of his poor health.

Like many Javanese, Suharto had only one name. In religious contexts, he is sometimes called “Haji” or “el-Haj Mohammed Suharto”, but this Islamic title is not part of his formal name or generally used. The spelling "Suharto" reflects current Indonesian spelling, but people's names were always exempt from this. The English-language press generally uses the spelling 'Suharto', but Suharto and his family, as well as the Indonesian government and media, use 'Soeharto'.

1968 Prime Minister of Australia

On 10 January 1968, Sir John Grey Gorton, (September 1911 – 19 May 2002), Australian politician, became the 19th Prime Minister in unusual circumstances. He was elected Liberal Party leader to replace Harold Holt, who had disappeared the previous month while swimming off the Victorian coast, and was presumed dead. Gorton also left the job in unusual circumstances – he declared himself out of office after a tied party vote of confidence in his leadership on 10 March 1971.

Prime Minister John Gorton with Indonesian President Soeharto in Djakarta during the Gorton’s visit in 1968.

1968 Spain's Head of State

Francisco Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 in Ferrol – 20 November 1975 in Madrid), commonly known as Francisco Franco (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ˈfɾaŋko]), or simply Franco, was a military general and dictator of Spain from October 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975. As head of state, Franco used the title Caudillo de España, por la gracia de Dios, meaning; Leader of Spain, by the grace of God. During his almost forty year reign, Franco's governance went through various different phases, although the most common ideological features present throughout included a strong sense of Spanish nationalism and protection of the country's territorial integrity, Catholicism, anti-communism, anti-masonry and traditional values.

1968 Leader of Czechoslovakia

January 5 - Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is elected leader of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia.
Alexander Dubček (November 27, 1921 – November 7, 1992) was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968-1969), famous for his attempt to reform the Communist regime (Prague Spring). Later, after the overthrow of the Communist government in 1989, he was Speaker of the federal Czechoslovak parliament.

Mao Tse-tung 1968 Leader of China

Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), also known as "Chairman Mao", was the leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976 and dictator of Communist China from 1949-1976.
Mao led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, he has been regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, and named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Mao Zedong remains a controversial figure to this day, with a contentious and ever-evolving legacy. Critics blame many of Mao's socio-political programs, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, for causing severe damage to the culture, society, economy, and foreign relations of China. Mao's policies and political purges in the first decades of the People's Republic are widely attributed to the deaths of between 40 to 70 million people.

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao became the focus of a personality cult. A number of the Chinese people regard Mao as the savior of the nation, who laid the military, political, economic, technological and cultural foundations of modern China.

Mao is officially held in high regard in China where he is known as a great revolutionary, political strategist, and military mastermind who defeated Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese Civil War, and then through his policies transformed the country into a major world power. Additionally, Mao is viewed by many in China as a poet, philosopher, and visionary. However, attitudes towards Mao have changed since Deng Xiaoping took power and initiated market-economic reforms in 1978, but the official party line makes a distinction between Mao's contributions to the Communist revolution and the "errors" he committed later in life.[5] His portrait continues to be featured prominently on Tiananmen Gate and on all Renminbi bills.

1968 President of the Philippines

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949-1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959-1965). During World War II he fought against the Japanese as the leader of the "Ang Maharlika" guerrilla force in northern Luzon. In 1963 he became Senate President. As Philippine president and strongman, Marcos led his country in its post-war reconstruction. Initially, his intentions were laudable, to improve the economy and to increase agricultural productivity and to dismantle the oligarchy that had dominated the nation. His greatest achievements were in the areas of infrastructure development, safeguarding the country against communism, and international diplomacy.

However, his administration was marred by massive government corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression and human rights violations. In 1986 he was removed from power by massive popular demonstrations, which began as a reaction to the political assassination of his opponent Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. the previous year.

1968 Elected President of USA

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963. He served in all four federal elected offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President, and President.

Johnson, a Democrat, succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin in the 1964 Presidential election. Johnson was greatly supported by the Democratic Party and, as President, was responsible for designing the "Great Society" legislation that included laws that upheld civil rights, Public Broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and his attempt to help the poor in his "War on Poverty." Simultaneously, he greatly escalated direct American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Johnson served as a United States Representative from Texas, from 1937–1949 and as United States Senator (as his grandfather foretold when Johnson was just an infant) from 1949–1961, including six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election. Johnson's popularity as President steadily declined after the 1966 Congressional elections, and his re-election bid in the 1968 United States presidential election collapsed as a result of turmoil within the Democratic Party related to opposition to the Vietnam War. He withdrew from the race to concentrate on peacemaking.

Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his arm twisting of powerful politicians in order to advance legislation. He was a legendary "hands-on" manager and the last President to serve out his term without ever hiring a White House Chief of Staff or "gatekeeper" (a position invented by Kennedy's predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower).

Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War ruined much of his credibility as President. Johnson was wary of potential political attacks from the right for losing a portion of the world to communism. Johnson believed that if Vietnam fell to the Communists, his presidency would be considered soft on communism, at the same time undermining his grand domestic agenda. Johnson began bombing North Vietnam in 1965 and it continued for the next 7 years through the Nixon Administration. Over time, Johnson escalated the number of troops and active military involvement in Vietnam. Soldier casualties were mounting and soon chants were heard, "Hey, Hey LBJ, How many kids did you kill today?" By the end of his presidency, Johnson turned into a recluse, rarely leaving the White House.

Johnson died after suffering his third heart attack, on January 22, 1973. He was 64 years old.