14
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15
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MAY 14-20, 2017
MAY 14-20, 2017
From the
Present...
Sigmundur David
Gunnlaugsson
...and from the Past
In 2013, Gunnlaugsson became
PM of Iceland at the age of 38.
He resigned in 2016 after
details of his offshore
financial holdings were
revealed in the Panama
Papers leak
Rajiv Gandhi
He was 40 when he was
sworn in as prime minister
on October 31, 1984. Two
months later he won a
rousing victory in the
general election, winning
more Lok Sabha seats than
anyone before him. His
mother, Indira Gandhi,
was 48 years old when
she succeeded
Lal Bahadur Shastri as PM
Justin Trudeau, 45
He was elected as Canada's prime minister in
2015, when he was 43. The youngest Canadian
PM ever was Joe Clark, who was 39 when he
assumed office in 1979. Trudeau won the
leadership of the Liberal Party in April 2013
and went on to lead his party to victory in the
2015 federal election, moving the third-placed
Liberals from 36 seats to 184 seats, the largest
ever numerical increase by a party in a
Canadian election
Youth
Fidel Castro
Power
Emmanuel Macron, 39, who won the
French elections on May 7, will be one of the world’s
youngest leaders. The new president, who succeeds
Francois Hollande, is likely to be sworn in by May 14
in a transfer of power ceremony at the Elysee
Presidential Palace. ET Magazine checks out some of
the other young leaders, past and present, who took
over the duties of the high executive office
Jigme Khesar Namgyel
Wangchuck, 37
He is the fifth and current reigning druk
gyalpo or "dragon king" of the Kingdom of
Bhutan. After his father Jigme Singye
Wangchuck abdicated the throne in 26-yearold Jigme's favour, a public coronation
ceremony was held on November 1, 2008, an
auspicious year that marked 100 years of
monarchy in Bhutan
The Cuban revolutionary leader, who
died last year, was 32 when his rebel
forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for
nearly five decades as one of the
world's last communist leaders
Theodore Roosevelt
He was America's youngest
president at 42. He ascended to
power following the assassination of
president William McKinley in 1901.
He had also been a state legislator in
New York before working in
Washington, DC. He was elected to
the statehouse at age 23, making him
the youngest state lawmaker in
New York at the time
Vanessa D’Ambrosio, 29
Tony Blair and
David Cameron,
Britain
Jean-Claude Duvalier
D'Ambrosio is the captain regent of San
Marino, serving from April until October 2017
(alongside the regent Mimma Zavoli). Her
grandfather Francesco Berti was one of the
founders of the Communist Party of San
Marino.
In April 1971, Jean-Claude Duvalier,
nicknamed “Baby Doc”, assumed
the presidency of Haiti at the age of
19 upon the death of his father,
Francois Duvalier (nicknamed "Papa
Doc"), becoming the world's
youngest president. Duvalier Jr
was overthrown in 1986
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini served as a
Captain Regent of San Marino from April to
October, 1981, and was the first female head
of the country and, at age 26,
one of the youngest
John F Kennedy
The wealthy senator and
war hero was 43 when he
took the oath of office. He
won the 1961 elections,
beating Republican
Richard Nixon
Blair was 43 when he was elected
Britain's prime minister in 1997 —
the country's youngest leader since
42-year-old Lord Liverpool in 1812.
Cameron was also 43, but a few
months younger than Blair, when he
became Britain's leader in 2010.
Cameron resigned last year after
failing to convince Britons to remain
in the European Union
The Tots' Lot: Royals who were crowned while still in their cribs
Kim Jong-un, 33
He is the supreme leader of North Korea. Kim
was officially declared the leader, following
the state funeral of his father Kim Jong-il in
December 2011. Kim holds the titles of
chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, the
Central Military Commission and National
Defence Commission. He is the supreme
commander of the Korean People's Army, and
presidium member of the politburo standing
committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
King Oyo, Toro Kingdom, Uganda
Emperor Puyi, China Pomare III, Tahiti
In 1995, Oyo became monarch at the age of three. He
rules the Toro Kingdom in Uganda now, where the
20-year-old oversees a cabinet and is advised
by Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni
In 1908, Puyi became emperor at
the age of two. When Puyi was
six, a revolution erupted and the
Chinese dynasty crumbled
Henry VI, England
Sobhuza II, Swaziland
In 1422, an eight-month-old Henry was made the king. England
eventually lost the Hundred Years’ War, and Henry almost went
insane. When he recovered, the War of the Roses erupted, and
Henry landed on the losing side again
The tyke was crowned when he was four
months old and went on to keep the job for
82 years. Sobhuza II saw Swaziland gain its
independence from Britain in 1968
Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad-Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah, 87, Emir of Kuwait
The Oldest Ruling Leaders of the World:
Robert Mugabe, 93
president of Zimbabwe
Source: foreignpolicy.com,
usnews.com, history.com
Pomare III became king of Tahiti
at 17 months. He died at the age
of five from an unknown
disease and was succeeded by
his 14-year-old sister
Elizabeth II, 91
Queen of UK
Beji Caid Essebsi, 90
president of Tunisia
Kim Yong-nam, 89, president of North Korea