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Joseph Jenkins Roberts

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Joseph Jenkins Roberts
1st President of Liberia (1848)
7th President of Liberia (1872)
In office
January 3 1848 – January 7 1856
January 1 1872 – January 3 1876
Vice PresidentStephen Allen Benson (1848)
Anthony W. Gardiner (1872)
Preceded byNone (1848)
James Skivring Smith (1872)
Succeeded byStephen Allen Benson (1848)
James Spriggs Payne (1872)
Personal details
Born(1809-03-15)March 15, 1809
Norfolk, Virginia
DiedFebruary 24, 1876(1876-02-24) (aged 66)
Liberia
Political partyRepublican Party

Joseph Jenkins Roberts (born Norfolk, Virginia, March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) served as the first (1848-1856) and seventh (1872-1876) President of Liberia

Roberts, born a free man of American ancestry to Amelia Roberts, was raised in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Joseph was the second child and he had six siblings; John, Henry, Urias, William, Elizabeth, and Mary. Roberts only had one African great grandparent, and he was of more than one half European ancestry. He moved to Petersburg, Virginia where he worked in his family's boating business.

In 1829 his family moved to Liberia and established a trading store in Monrovia. In 1839, Roberts became Liberia's lieutenant governor and afterwards, its governor (1841–1848). He is known as the father of Liberia and helped Liberia win its independence in 1847.

In 1871 President Edward J. Roye was deposed in a coup d'état by elements loyal to the Republican Party on the grounds that he was planning to cancel the upcoming elections. Roberts, one of the Republican Party's leaders, won the ensuing presidential election and thus returned to office. He served until 1876, although he was incapacitated by illness from 1875 until his death the following year.

Liberia's main airport, Roberts International Airport, is named in honor of Joseph Roberts. His face is also depicted on the Liberian ten dollar bill.

Further reading

  • Virginia's Ninth President, Joseph Jakey Brown by C. W. Tazwell
Preceded by
(none)
 President of Liberia
1847–1856 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Liberia
1872–1876 		Succeeded by


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