Samuel Doe took control of Liberia in a coup d'état, overthrowing President William Tolbert and ending over 130 years of national democratic presidential succession.
Samuel Doe
Samuel Kanyon Doe was a Liberian politician and military officer 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.
1980 Liberian coup d'état
The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert of Liberia was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the command of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe. Following a period of transition, Doe ruled Liberia throughout the 1980s, until his murder in 1990 during the First Liberian Civil War.
William Tolbert
William Richard Tolbert Jr. was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until his assassination in 1980.