Paul Kruger, South African soldier and politician, 5th President of the South African Republic (died 1904)

Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1900. Nicknamed "Oom Paul", he came to international prominence as the face of the Boer cause—that of the Transvaal and its neighbour the Orange Free State—against Britain during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He has been called a personification of Afrikanerdom and admirers venerate him as a tragic folk hero.

The state president of the South African Republic had the executive authority in the South African Republic. According to the constitution of 1871, executive power was vested in the president, who was responsible to the Volksraad. The president was elected for a term of five years and was eligible for re-election. The president had to be Burgher and also qualified to vote for the First Volksraad elections, over 30 years old, a member of a Protestant church, and never convicted of a dishonourable offence.