Samuel Doe

== Presidency ==
During his rule, Doe portrayed himself as an enlightened leader whose actions were intended to bring "relief to many". He styled himself "Dr. Doe" starting in 1982 after making a state visit to [[Chun Doo-hwan]] in South Korea and being awarded an honorary doctorate from the [[University of Seoul]].<ref name="1984 birthday" />  After seven years of calling himself a doctor, Doe announced in 1989 that he had completed a bachelor's degree from the [[University of Liberia]].<ref>"Congrats Mr. President!" ''Monrovia Tribune'', 1989-05: 1/12.</ref>

=== Relations with the United States ===
[[File:Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger - Samuel K. Doe.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Doe with then Secretary of Defense of the United States [[Caspar W. Weinberger]] outside the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] in 1982]]
During his first years in office, Doe openly supported U.S. [[Cold War]] foreign policy in Africa during the 1980s, severing diplomatic relations between Liberia and the [[Soviet Union]].

The United States valued Liberia as an important ally during the Cold War, as it helped to contain the spread of Soviet influence in Africa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bueno |first1=Bruce |last2=Smith |first2=Alastair |title=The Dictator's Handbook |date=2011 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=9781610390446 |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UBY5DgAAQBAJ |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408145223/https://books.google.com/books?id=UBY5DgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> As part of the expanding relationship, Doe agreed to a modification of the mutual defense pact granting staging rights on 24-hour notice at Liberia's sea and airports for the [[United States Rapid Deployment Forces|U.S. Rapid Deployment Forces]], which were established to respond swiftly to security threats around the world.

=== New constitution and 1985 elections ===
A draft constitution providing for a multi-party republic was issued in 1983 and approved by referendum in 1984. On 26 July 1984, Doe was elected President of the Interim National Assembly.<ref>Europa World Year Book 1985</ref> He had a new constitution approved by [[1984 Liberian constitutional referendum|referendum]] in 1984 and went on to stage a [[1985 Liberian general election|presidential election]] on 15 October 1985.  According to official figures, Doe won 51% of the vote—just enough to avoid a runoff.<ref>Moran, Mary H. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7sAa75hpdiMC Liberia: The Violence of Democracy]''. 1st paperback ed. [[Philadelphia]]: [[University of Pennsylvania|U of Pennsylvania Press]], 2008, 120.</ref>  The NDPL won 21 of the 26 [[Senate of Liberia|Senate]] seats and 51 of the 64 seats in the [[House of Representatives of Liberia|House of Representatives]]. However, most of the elected opposition candidates refused to take their seats.

The election was heavily rigged; Doe had the ballots taken to a secret location, and 50 of his own handpicked staff counted them. Foreign observers declared the elections fraudulent and suggested that runner-up [[Jackson Doe]] of the [[Liberian Action Party]] had won.<ref>Gifford, Paul. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=GFZ_TIc4q6UC Christianity and Politics in Doe's Liberia]''. [[Cambridge]]: [[Cambridge University Press]], 1993, 22.</ref> Also, before the election, he had more than 50 of his political opponents murdered. It is also alleged that he changed his official birth date from 1951 to 1950 to meet the new constitution's requirement that the president be at least 35 years old. Doe was formally sworn in on 6 January 1986. On the day of his inauguration as the twenty-first president, in the stadium, a show with several Liberian girls danced artistically in his honor with various hoops. Later, the dancers danced with maracas. Finally, the army paraded in line and the first they played a majestic orchestra.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/tm3YynW2_XQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150709182928/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm3YynW2_XQ Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm3YynW2_XQ| title = president doe | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Doe publicly declared that if he lost the elections, he would not hand over power, and the army would carry out another coup in less than two weeks, a position that was harshly criticized by the international community and the political parties participating in the elections. Official results showed that Doe received a narrow majority of the votes in the elections, although the US State Department alleged widespread fraud.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dennis |first1=Peter |title=A Brief History of Liberia |journal=The International Center for Transitional Justice |date=May 2006 |url=https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Liberia-Brief-History-2006-English.pdf |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011070456/https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Liberia-Brief-History-2006-English.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Increased repression ===
General [[Thomas Quiwonkpa]], who had been a leader of the 1980 coup along with Doe, attempted to seize power on 12 November 1985; the attempt failed after fighting in [[Monrovia]] in which Quiwonkpa was killed. Doe also announced in a radio and television broadcast that anyone found on the streets after a 6 p.m. curfew would be considered a rebel and executed immediately.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/13/world/liberia-says-it-foiled-coup-attempt.html|title=LIBERIA SAYS IT FOILED COUP ATTEMPT (Published 1985)|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 November 1985|access-date=13 March 2020|archive-date=15 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115093334/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/13/world/liberia-says-it-foiled-coup-attempt.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-16-mn-2771-story.html|title=Liberian Troops Kill Leader of Attempted Coup|date=16 November 1985|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=13 March 2020|archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324155403/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-16-mn-2771-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Doe's corrupt and totalitarian government became even more repressive after the attempted coup, shutting down newspapers and banning political activity. The government's mistreatment of certain ethnic groups, particularly the [[Gio people|Gio]] (or Dan) and the [[Mano people|Mano]] in the north (Quiwonkpa was an ethnic Gio), resulted in divisions and violence among indigenous populations who until then had coexisted peacefully.