Samuel Doe

{{Short description|Leader of Liberia from 1980 to 1990}}
{{Redirect2|Dr. Doe|Sam Doe|the clinical sexologist|Lindsey Doe|the Liberian academic|Samuel Gbaydee Doe|the formerly unidentified murder victim|Murder of Gordon Sanderson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2011}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Samuel Doe
| image               = Samuel Kanyon Doe - Liberian.jpg
| image_size          = 
| caption             = Doe in 1982
| alt                 = 
| office1             = 21st [[President of Liberia]]
| vicepresident1      = [[Harry Moniba]]
| term_start1         = 6 January 1986
| term_end1           = 9 September 1990
| predecessor1        = ''Himself'' {{small|(as Chairman of [[People's Redemption Council]])}}
| successor1          = [[Amos Sawyer]] {{small|(interim)}}
| order2              = 
| office2             = [[President of Liberia|Chairman of the People's Redemption Council]]
| deputy2             = {{plainlist|
*[[Thomas Weh Syen]]
*[[Nicholas Podier]]}}
| term_start2         = 12 April 1980
| term_end2           = 6 January 1986
| predecessor2        = [[William Tolbert]] {{small|(as President)}}
| successor2          = ''Himself'' {{small|(as President)}}
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1951|5|6|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Tuzon]], Liberia
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1990|9|9|1951|5|6|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Monrovia]], Liberia
| party               = [[National Democratic Party of Liberia|National Democratic Party]]
| spouse              = [[Nancy Doe]]<br>(married {{circa}} 1968–1969)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qt0_RrW8ghkC&q=Nancy+Doe+Liberia&pg=PA111|title=Historical Dictionary of Liberia|last1=Dunn|first1=Elwood D.|last2=Beyan|first2=Amos J.|last3=Burrowes|first3=Carl Patrick|date=20 December 2000|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9781461659310|language=en}}</ref>
| children            = 5
| death_cause         = [[Torture murder]]
| resting_place       = Body lost or destroyed
| alma_mater          = [[University of Liberia]]
| occupation          = [[Politician]]
| rank                = [[Master Sergeant]]
| branch              = [[Armed Forces of Liberia]]
| battles             = [[First Liberian Civil War]]
| allegiance          = {{flag|Liberia}}
| serviceyears        = 1969–1985
}}{{Samuel Doe sidebar}}
'''Samuel Kanyon Doe''' (6 May 1951<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-K-Doe|title=Samuel K. Doe {{!}} president of Liberia|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=14 May 2019|archive-date=4 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004042559/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-K-Doe|url-status=live}}</ref> – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician who served as the 21st [[President of Liberia]] from 1986 to 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the [[People's Redemption Council]] (PRC) from 1980 to 1986 and then as president from 1986 to 1990.<ref name=":0" />

Doe was a [[master sergeant]] in the [[Armed Forces of Liberia]] (AFL) when he staged the violent [[1980 Liberian coup d'état|1980 coup d'état]] that overthrew President [[William Tolbert]] and the [[True Whig Party]], becoming the first non-[[Americo-Liberian]] leader of Liberia and ending 133 years of [[History of Liberia#Americo-Liberian rule (1847–1980)|Americo-Liberian rule]].<ref name=":0" /> Doe suspended the [[Constitution of Liberia]], assumed the rank of [[General officer|general]], and established the PRC as a [[Provisional government|provisional]] [[military government]] with himself as ''[[de facto]]'' [[head of state]].<ref name=":0" /> Doe dissolved the PRC in 1984 and attempted to legitimize his regime, with a new democratic constitution and a [[1985 Liberian general election|general election held in 1985]]. He won with 51% of votes, but the election had widespread allegations of [[election fraud]].<ref name=":0" /> Doe opened Liberian ports to Canadian, Chinese, and European ships, which brought in considerable foreign investment and earned Liberia's reputation as a [[tax haven]]. Doe had support from the United States due to his anti-[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] stance during the [[Cold War]].

Doe's rule was characterized by [[totalitarianism]], [[Political corruption|corruption]], and his [[in-group favoritism|favoritism]] towards ethnic [[Krahn people|Krahns]], which led to growing opposition to his regime from the Liberian public and the United States. The [[First Liberian Civil War]] began in December 1989 when the anti-Doe [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia]] (NPFL) led by [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]] invaded Liberia from the [[Ivory Coast]] to overthrow him. Doe was captured and executed by [[Prince Johnson]] on 9 September 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 November 2021|title=Liberia : Samuel Doe, death washed down with a Budweiser|url=https://www.theafricareport.com/144562/pt-5-liberia-samuel-doe-death-washed-down-with-budweiser/|access-date=20 December 2021|website=The Africa Report.com|language=en-US|archive-date=26 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026154025/https://www.theafricareport.com/144562/pt-5-liberia-samuel-doe-death-washed-down-with-budweiser/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Samuel Kanyon Doe was born on 6 May 1951 in [[Tuzon]], a small inland village in [[Grand Gedeh County]]. His family belonged to the [[Krahn people]], an important minority indigenous group in this area.<ref>"Hail to the Chief: Happy Birthday!" ''Express Special'' 6 May 1982: 1.</ref> At the age of sixteen, Doe finished elementary school and enrolled at a Baptist junior high school in [[Zwedru]]. 
Two years later, he enlisted in the [[Armed Forces of Liberia]], hoping thereby to obtain a scholarship to a high school in [[Kakata]]. Still, instead, he was assigned to military duties. Over the next ten years, he was assigned to various duty stations, including education at a military school and commanding various garrisons and prisons in Monrovia. He finally completed high school by [[Distance education|correspondence]]. Doe was promoted to the grade of [[Master sergeant]] on 11 October 1979 and made an administrator for the Third Battalion in Monrovia, a position he occupied for eleven months.<ref name="1984 birthday">"Happy Birthday!! Dr. Doe is 34 TODAY" ''Sunday Express'', 6 May 1984: 1/6-7.</ref>

== 1980 coup d'etat and new government ==
[[File:William R. Tolbert, Jr. (President of Liberia) on September 23, 1976, from- CAC CC 001 18 11 0000 1060 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|President Tolbert had become very authoritarian in later years]]
{{main|1980 Liberian coup d'état}} Commanding a group of Krahn soldiers, Master Sergeant Samuel Doe led a [[military coup]] on 12 April 1980 by attacking the [[Executive Mansion (Liberia)|Liberian Executive Mansion]] and killing President [[William R. Tolbert Jr.]] His forces killed another 26 of Tolbert's supporters in the fighting. Thirteen members of the Cabinet were publicly executed ten days later. Shortly after the coup, government ministers were walked publicly around Monrovia in the nude and then summarily executed by a firing squad on the beach. The convicted were denied the right to a lawyer or any appeal.<ref>{{cite news|last=White|first=Robin|title=My Verbal Sparring with Charles Taylor|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17845592|publisher=BBC News|access-date=26 April 2012|date=26 April 2012}}</ref> Hundreds of government workers fled the country, while others were imprisoned.

After the coup, Doe assumed the rank of general and established a People's Redemption Council (PRC), composed of himself and 14 other low-ranking officers, to rule the country. The early days of the regime were marked by mass executions of members of Tolbert's deposed government. Doe ordered the release of about 50 leaders of the opposition [[Progressive Alliance of Liberia|Progressive People's Party]], who had been jailed by Tolbert during the rice riots of the previous month.[[File:Swing and Doe.png|thumb|U. S. Ambassador to Liberia [[William L. Swing]] presenting credentials to Commander-in-Chief Samuel K. Doe, head of state and chairman, People's Redemption Council]]

Shortly after that, Doe ordered the arrest of 91 officials of the Tolbert regime. Within days, eleven former members of Tolbert's cabinet, including his brother [[Frank E. Tolbert|Frank]], were brought to trial to answer charges of "high [[treason]], rampant [[corruption]] and gross violation of [[human rights]]."<ref>{{cite journal |journal=TIME Magazine |date=18 April 1980 |title=LIBERIA: After the Takeover, Revenge |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924057,00.html#ixzz0dsadsRgy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928150953/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924057,00.html#ixzz0dsadsRgy|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2008}}</ref> Doe suspended the Constitution, allowing these trials to be conducted by a Commission appointed by the state's new military leadership, with defendants being refused both [[legal representation]] and [[trial by jury]], virtually ensuring their conviction.

Doe abruptly ended 133 years of Americo-Liberian political domination. Some hailed the coup as the first time since Liberia's establishment as a country that it was governed by people of native African descent instead of by the Americo-Liberian elite. Other persons without Americo-Liberian heritage had held the Vice Presidency ([[Henry Too Wesley]]), as well as Ministerial and Legislative positions in years prior. Many people welcomed Doe's takeover as a shift favoring the majority of the population that had largely been excluded from government participation since the country's establishment.

However, the new government, led by the leaders of the ''coup d'état'' and calling itself the [[People's Redemption Council]] (PRC), lacked experience and was ill-prepared to rule. Doe became head of state and suspended the constitution but promised a return to civilian rule by 1985.

In the first alleged plot against his government, nine military personnel arrested two months after the original 1980 coup were reportedly jailed for life.

In June 1981, his government denounced another alleged coup in which thirteen members were executed behind closed doors.

Months later, [[Thomas Weh Syen]], an outspoken critic of some of Doe's policies, including the closure months before of the [[Libya]]n diplomatic mission and the forced reduction of staff from fifteen to six at the Soviet embassy, was beaten and arrested on 12 August of that same year, along with four other officers. They were promised a defense attorney, but none was given, and in three days, they were executed, which caused panic among the citizens of the capital.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dash|first=Leon|date=15 August 1981|title=Liberia Executes 5 Members of Ruling Council|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/08/15/liberia-executes-5-members-of-ruling-council/60611bd1-84b6-45ee-bfe3-40d1de905e1b/|access-date=12 September 2021|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022134643/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/08/15/liberia-executes-5-members-of-ruling-council/60611bd1-84b6-45ee-bfe3-40d1de905e1b/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Liberian Criminal Justice System: In Retrospect and Reforms|url=https://www.theperspective.org/articles/0217200602.html|access-date=12 September 2021|website=www.theperspective.org|archive-date=12 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912151728/https://www.theperspective.org/articles/0217200602.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Liberia's Truth Commission Holds First Public Hearings in the US {{!}} Voice of America - English|url=https://www.voanews.com/archive/liberias-truth-commission-holds-first-public-hearings-us|access-date=12 September 2021|website=www.voanews.com|language=en|archive-date=12 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912151735/https://www.voanews.com/archive/liberias-truth-commission-holds-first-public-hearings-us|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: [[File:Samuel K. Doe During the 1980 Coup.png|thumbnail|Doe (center) holding a walkie-talkie, alongside the other conspirators after the 1980 coup]] -->

=== Theories on the genesis of the coup ===
In August 2008, before a [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Liberia)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC) in Monrovia, Doe's former justice minister, Councillor [[Chea Cheapoo]] — who contested the 2011 Liberia Presidential elections — alleged the American [[CIA]] had provided a map of the Executive Mansion, enabling the rebels to break into it; that it was a white American CIA agent who shot and killed Tolbert; and that the Americans "were responsible for Liberia's nightmare".<ref>''The News'' (a Liberian newspaper), 6 August 2008 (retrieved 6–8 Aug.) [http://thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3722&sub=News CIA Agents Executed 1980 Coup] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010215622/http://thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3722&sub=News |date=10 October 2008 }}</ref> However, the next day, before the same TRC, another former minister of Samuel Doe, Dr. Boima Fahnbulleh, testified that "the Americans did not support the coup led by Mr. Doe".<ref>''The News'', 7 August 2008 (retr. 7–8 Aug.) [http://www.thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3729&sub=News Harry Greaves, Tom Kamara, Others Linked] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010215644/http://www.thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3729&sub=News |date=10 October 2008 }}</ref>

Some facts of the 1980 coup are still clouded by reports of an "Unknown Soldier".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherman |first1=Frank |title=Liberia The Land, Its People, History and Culture |date=2010 |publisher=New Africa Press |isbn=9789987160259 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lstRzSWEcUC&dq=Some+facts+of+the+1980+coup+are+still+clouded+by+reports+of+an+%22Unknown+Soldier%22&pg=PA7 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408145224/https://books.google.com/books?id=1lstRzSWEcUC&dq=Some+facts+of+the+1980+coup+are+still+clouded+by+reports+of+an+%22Unknown+Soldier%22&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is reported that an "unknown soldier" was one of the "white" mercenaries who would have staged the 1980 military takeover of the state. According to the autobiography of Tolbert's wife [[Victoria Tolbert|Victoria]], the First Lady witnessed a masked man with a "white" hand stabbing her late husband.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1886158126/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller= Victoria Tolbert, Lifted Up] Macalester Park Publishing Company |(retrieved 12 October 2010)</ref>

== 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.

== Civil war ==
[[File:Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia in Monrovia 1990.png|thumb|Insurgent forces in 1990 in Mamba Station]]
[[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]], a former ally of Doe, crossed into Liberia from [[Ivory Coast]] on 24 December 1989 to wage a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against Doe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duyvesteyn |first1=Isabelle |title=Clausewitz and African War |date=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781135764845 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOqQAgAAQBAJ |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408145225/https://books.google.com/books?id=EOqQAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Taylor had broken out of a jail in the United States, where he was awaiting extradition to Liberia on charges of embezzlement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Onwumechili |first1=Chuka |title=African Democratization and Military Coups |date=1998 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=9780275963255 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKMCQxIwDrQC |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408144846/https://books.google.com/books?id=MKMCQxIwDrQC |url-status=live }}</ref> The conflict quickly flared into [[First Liberian Civil War|full-fledged civil war]]. By the mid-1990s, most of Liberia was controlled by rebel factions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Press |first1=Robert |title=Candles in the Wind: Resisting Repression in Liberia |journal=Africa Today |jstor=27666982 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27666982 |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011073604/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27666982 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{main|Monrovia Church massacre}}
Approximately 600 civilians were killed at the [[Church (building)|church]] in the Sinkor section of Monrovia on 29 July 1990. The massacre was carried out by approximately 30 government soldiers loyal to Doe.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Draman |first1=Rasheed |title=Managing Chaos in the West African Sub-Region: Assessing the Role of ECOMOG in Liberia |journal=Journal of Military and Strategic Studies |date=2003 |volume=6 |issue=2 |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/jmss/jmss_2003/v6n2/jmss_v6n2b.pdf |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011073608/https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/jmss/jmss_2003/v6n2/jmss_v6n2b.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The perpetrators were of Doe's Krahn tribe while most of the victims were from the Gio and Mano tribes, which were in support of the rebels.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Robert |last2=Morse |first2=Benjamin |title=Policing and the Legacies of Wartime State Predation: Evidence from a Survey and Field Experiment in Liberia |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |date=May 12, 2021 |volume=65 |issue=10 |pages=1709–1737 |doi=10.1177/00220027211013096 |s2cid=236587010 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00220027211013096 |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011073604/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00220027211013096 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Capture===
Doe was captured in [[Monrovia]] on 9 September 1990 by [[Prince Johnson|Prince Y. Johnson]], leader of [[Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia|INPFL]], a breakaway faction of Taylor's [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia|NPFL]]. [[Arnold Quainoo|General Quainoo]], the head of [[ECOMOG]], had invited Doe to the ECOMOG headquarters for a meeting and assured him of his safety from the rebels.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Politics and Diplomacy of Peacekeeping in West Africa: The Ecowas Operation in Liberia |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |date=11 November 2008 |volume=33 |issue=4 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/politics-and-diplomacy-of-peacekeeping-in-west-africa-the-ecowas-operation-in-liberia/637E4085ADC48A7099E8DEE7E50E8FA2 |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012070403/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/politics-and-diplomacy-of-peacekeeping-in-west-africa-the-ecowas-operation-in-liberia/637E4085ADC48A7099E8DEE7E50E8FA2 |url-status=live }}</ref> On the morning of 9 September 1990, Doe arrived at a precarious time during an ongoing change in guard duty from the well-armed and better equipped Nigerian team of peacekeepers to the weaker Gambian contingent.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ojoko |first1=Israel |title=On a momentous note, what has befallen our military? |url=https://www.thecable.ng/on-a-momentous-note-what-has-befallen-our-military |website=thecable.ng |date=31 August 2021 |publisher=The Cable |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012070403/https://www.thecable.ng/on-a-momentous-note-what-has-befallen-our-military |url-status=live }}</ref> The Nigerian team had just withdrawn from the scene when Doe's convoy of lightly armed personnel arrived. Doe was escorted to General Quainoo's office, where he was formally welcomed while most of his team of aides and guards waited outside. Johnson's rebels surprised everyone by suddenly arriving on the scene uninvited and heavily armed, overwhelming and disarming the entirety of Doe's team while encountering no resistance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering the savage rise and Fall of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe of Liberia |url=https://www.maravipost.com/remembering-the-savage-rise-and-fall-of-master-sergeant-samuel-doe-of-liberia/ |website=The Maravi Post |publisher=Malawi 24 |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012071905/https://www.maravipost.com/remembering-the-savage-rise-and-fall-of-master-sergeant-samuel-doe-of-liberia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They then started shooting Doe's team individually and later in groups. Upon hearing the gunshots from outside, Doe expressed concern to Quainoo, who assured him everything was fine. Quainoo later excused himself to check on what was happening outside and was followed by his aide, Captain Coker of the [[Gambia]]n contingent. Both men took cover upon assessing the situation. Johnson's men moved indoors, finished off Doe's remaining team, shot him in the leg, and took him captive.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Stephen |title=The Mask of Anarchy Updated Edition |date=2006 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814722381 |pages=8–10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkY9DAAAQBAJ |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408144848/https://books.google.com/books?id=hkY9DAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> When the dust settled, over 80 of Doe's men lay dead. Coker characterized the incident not as a fight but a brutal massacre. Remarkably, none of the ECOMOG personnel were shot in the carnage.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

===Torture and murder===
Doe was taken to Johnson's military base. To prove that he was not protected by [[black magic]],<ref name=wp>Vick, Karl. [http://www.genocidewatch.org/images/Liberia_10_Aug_03_Liberian_Strife_Is_Traced_to_Turbulent_Past2.pdf "Liberian Strife Is Traced To Turbulent Past: Some Blame Turmoil On Its American Roots"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610105640/http://www.genocidewatch.org/images/Liberia_10_Aug_03_Liberian_Strife_Is_Traced_to_Turbulent_Past2.pdf |date=10 June 2011 }}, ''Washington Post'', Foreign Service, 10 August 2003.</ref> Johnson ordered Doe's ears be cut off in his presence.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/c5xJpj7EmQM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180615163309/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xJpj7EmQM Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xJpj7EmQM&list=PLdLdVbvyGNxLcst3f6Nl_5sVyLEVDvtmU&index=92&t=0s| title = The Execution of former Liberian President Samuel K Doe YouTube | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Shackles]] were also placed around Doe's legs and something strange was tied around his [[Glans penis|glans]], as can be seen in the recording. At the end of the recording, Doe was forced to get up, some of his fingers and toes were amputated, and there were attempts to mutilate the middle finger. After 12 hours of torture at Johnson's hands,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://owaahh.com/6-assassinations-of-african-leaders-that-were-caught-on-film/|title=6 Assassinations of African leaders (that were caught on film)|date=4 March 2015|access-date=16 July 2020|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730172033/https://owaahh.com/6-assassinations-of-african-leaders-that-were-caught-on-film/|url-status=live}}</ref> Doe was finally murdered; his corpse had its head shaved and was exhibited naked in the streets of Monrovia with cigarette burns. Doe's body was later exhumed and reburied. The spectacle of his torture was [[Snuff film|video-taped]]<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/yaLSzjfyUiA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131021185134/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaLSzjfyUiA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaLSzjfyUiA| title = The Execution of former Liberian President Samuel K. Doe | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and seen on news reports around the country. The video shows Johnson sipping a beer as Doe's ear is cut off.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6113682.stm Meeting the hard man of Liberia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227013552/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6113682.stm |date=27 February 2021 }}," ''[[BBC]]''</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Akam |first=Simon |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/95493/prince-johnson-liberia |title=The Comeback |magazine=New Republic |date=28 September 2011 |access-date=27 February 2017 |archive-date=7 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907144328/https://newrepublic.com/article/95493/prince-johnson-liberia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=MASK>{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Stephen|title=The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of African Civil War|url=https://archive.org/details/maskanarchydestr00elli|url-access=limited|orig-year=1999|year=2007|publisher=Hurst & Company|location=London, UK|isbn=978-1850654179|pages=[https://archive.org/details/maskanarchydestr00elli/page/n9 1]–16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalpublishers.co.tz/siku-za-mwisho-za-uhai-wa-samuel-doe/exhibition-of-samuel-does-body-during-the-civil-war-in-liberia/|title=Exhibition of Samuel Doe's Body During the Civil War in Liberia|access-date=5 July 2019|archive-date=5 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705152718/https://globalpublishers.co.tz/siku-za-mwisho-za-uhai-wa-samuel-doe/exhibition-of-samuel-does-body-during-the-civil-war-in-liberia/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Scooper - Nigeria News: A TYRANT FALLS: Gruesome Story Of How The First Indigenous President Of Liberia Was Tortured To Death On Video And Laid Naked In State|url=https://m.scooper.news/nigeria/2021/07/17/a-tyrant-falls-gruesome-story-of-how-the-first-indigenous-president-of-liberia-was-tortured-to-death-on-video-and-laid-naked-in-state/16992734|access-date=20 December 2021|website=m.scooper.news|language=en|archive-date=20 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220151511/https://m.scooper.news/nigeria/2021/07/17/a-tyrant-falls-gruesome-story-of-how-the-first-indigenous-president-of-liberia-was-tortured-to-death-on-video-and-laid-naked-in-state/16992734|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Doe was a Baptist. At one time, he was a member of the First Baptist Church in the town of [[Zwedru]] in [[Grand Gedeh County]]. He changed his church membership to the Providence Baptist Church of Monrovia on 1 December 1985.<ref>"Doe Joins Providence Baptist Church Here". ''SunTimes'', 2 December 1985: 1/7.</ref> Doe was a passionate [[association football|football]] fan, and the [[Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex]] bears his name.

==Posterity==
In November 2000, at a religious rally representing the Doe family, Doe's son Samuel Kanyon Doe Jr, accompanied by his mother [[Nancy Doe|Nancy]], Doe's widow, told a conference that he had feelings of hatred and resentment against "a certain person in particular", thoughts of revenge against his father's murderer for the past ten years and that he intended to cleanse his sins and feelings of hatred and revenge against his father's executioner. Both parties were reconciled at the hand of the Nigerian pastor [[T. B. Joshua]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 November 2019|title=How TB Joshua Reconciled The Son Of Liberia's President With The Man Who Murdered His Father|url=https://frontpageafricaonline.com/news/how-tb-joshua-reconciled-the-son-of-liberias-president-with-the-man-who-murdered-his-father/|access-date=20 February 2021|website=FrontPageAfrica|language=en-US|archive-date=13 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813181034/https://frontpageafricaonline.com/news/how-tb-joshua-reconciled-the-son-of-liberias-president-with-the-man-who-murdered-his-father/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=17 November 2019|title=TB Joshua the peacemaker: How SCOAN leader reconciled the son of Liberia's president with the man who murdered his father {{!}} Malawi 24 - Malawi news|url=https://malawi24.com/2019/11/17/tb-joshua-the-peacemaker-how-scoan-leader-reconciled-the-son-of-liberias-president-with-the-man-who-murdered-his-father/|access-date=20 February 2021|website=Malawi 24|language=en-US|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126063442/https://malawi24.com/2019/11/17/tb-joshua-the-peacemaker-how-scoan-leader-reconciled-the-son-of-liberias-president-with-the-man-who-murdered-his-father/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Njoku|first=Ihechuwku|date=18 November 2019|title=Nigeria: How TB Joshua Reconciled the Son of Liberia's President With the Man Who Murdered His Father|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201911180011.html|access-date=20 February 2021|website=allAfrica.com|language=en|archive-date=3 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603121759/https://allafrica.com/stories/201911180011.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl|title  = Chairman of the [[People's Redemption Council]]|years = 12 April 1980 – 6 January 1986}}
{{s-non|reason = Office abolished}}
{{s-brk}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before = [[William Richard Tolbert Jr.]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[President of Liberia]]|years = 6 January 1986 – 9 September 1990}}
{{s-aft|after  = [[Amos Claudius Sawyer]]|as = President of the Interim Government}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Liberia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doe, Samuel}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Assassinated Liberian politicians]]
[[Category:Executed presidents]]
[[Category:Field marshals]]
[[Category:Krahn people]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[Category:Liberian anti-communists]]
[[Category:Liberian Baptists]]
[[Category:National Democratic Party of Liberia politicians]]
[[Category:People from Grand Gedeh County]]
[[Category:People murdered in Liberia]]
[[Category:People's Redemption Council]]
[[Category:Presidents of Liberia]]
[[Category:Filmed executions]]
[[Category:20th-century Baptists]]
[[Category:20th-century Liberian politicians]]
[[Category:1990 murders in Africa]]
[[Category:1990s murders in Liberia]]
[[Category:1990 crimes in Liberia]]
[[Category:1990s assassinated politicians in Africa]]
[[Category:Torture victims]]
[[Category:Assassinated presidents in Africa]]
[[Category:20th-century assassinated national presidents]]
[[Category:20th-century presidents in Africa]]
[[Category:Assassinated politicians in 1990]]