11Park Chung Hee
President Park Chung Hee was responsible in large part for South Korea’s “economic miracle.” The programs he initiated gave his country one of the fastest-growing economies in the world during his 18-year rule.
12Pedro Lascuráin Paredes
Pedro Lascuráin Paredes was a Mexican politician who became president for less than one hour on February 19, 1913. This was due to a military coup by a General. The general had Lascuráin assume the presidency, then appoint him interior secretary, before resigning to make him president.
13Hafizullah Amin
In 1979, using Coca-Cola, the Soviets tried to poison the President of Afghanistan (Hafizullah Amin) but it didn't work as the carbonation diluted the poison.
14Mikhail Saakashvili
In 2005, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili fired all of the traffic police in his country, cutting 25,000 to 30,000 police from the payroll to fight corruption. He also increased the minimum weekly salary from $30-$40 to around $400 for the new officers.
15Bashar al-Assad
President of Syria Bashar al-Assad graduated from medical school, began working as an army doctor on the outskirts of Damascus, and had few political aspirations in his early life.
16Rodrigo Duterte
Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines (as of 2020), has been credited with transforming 'the murder capital of the nation' to 'the most peaceful city in Southeast Asia', primarily through illegal death squads targeting criminals.
17Alberto Fujimori
In 1992, Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori initiated a "self-coup". Despite already being the democratic ruler of the country, he overthrew the Congress and Judiciary with military force and assumed full autocratic power.
