Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951
– 9 September 1990) 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.
A member of the
Krahn ethnic group, Doe was a
master sergeant
A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries.
Israel Defense Forces
The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...
in the
Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) when he staged the violent
1980 coup d'état that overthrew President
William Tolbert and the
True Whig Party
The True Whig Party (TWP), also known as the Liberian Whig Party (LWP), is the oldest political party in Liberia and Africa as a whole. Founded in 1869 by primarily darker-skinned Americo-Liberians in rural areas, its historic rival was the Re ...
, becoming the first non-
Americo-Liberian
Americo-Liberian people (also known as Congo people or Congau people),Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of African Am ...
leader of Liberia and ending 133 years of
Americo-Liberian rule.
Doe suspended the
Constitution of Liberia, assumed the rank of
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
, and established the PRC as a
provisional military government
A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel.
Types of m ...
with himself as ''
de facto''
head of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of state
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
.
Doe dissolved the PRC in 1984 and attempted to legitimize his regime, with a new democratic constitution and a
general election held in 1985. He won with 51% of the votes, but the election had widespread allegations of
election fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...
.
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
A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for Domicile (law), non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher.
In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers Bank secrecy, ...
. Doe had support from the United States due to his anti-
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
stance during the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
.
Doe's rule was characterized by
authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
,
favoritism towards fellow Krahns, and persecution of the
Gio and
Mano tribes, particularly after surviving a coup attempt in 1985, which led to growing opposition to his regime from the Liberian public and the United States. The
First Liberian Civil War
The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...
began in December 1989 when the anti-Doe
National Patriotic Front of Liberia
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 24 December 1989 – 2 August 1997. The NPFL emerged out of rising ethnic tensions and civil unrest du ...
(NPFL) led by
Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
to overthrow him. The following year, Doe was captured and executed by the
Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), an NPFL splinter group led by
Prince Johnson.
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. 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
correspondence. Doe was promoted to the grade of
master sergeant
A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries.
Israel Defense Forces
The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...
on 11 October 1979 and made an administrator for the Third Battalion in Monrovia, a position he occupied for eleven months.
["Happy Birthday!! Dr. Doe is 34 TODAY" ''Sunday Express'', 6 May 1984: 1/6-7.]
1980 coup d'etat and new government
Commanding a group of Krahn soldiers, Master Sergeant Samuel Doe led a
military coup on 12 April 1980 by attacking the
Liberian Executive Mansion and killing President
William Tolbert. 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. 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 People's Party, who had been jailed by Tolbert during the rice riots of the previous month.

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, were brought to trial to answer charges of "high
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
, rampant
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and gross violation of
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
." 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
In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a ...
and
trial by jury
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are increasingly used ...
, 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
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
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.
Theories on the genesis of the coup
In August 2008, before a
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...
(TRC) in Monrovia, Doe's former justice minister, Councillor
Chea Cheapoo
Chea Cheapoo, Sr. (2 November 1942 – 16 September 2020) was a Liberian politician who served as the Chief Justice of Liberia#List of chief justices, 15th Chief Justice of Liberia, chief justice of Liberia from July 1987 until his impeachment and ...
— who contested the 2011 Liberia Presidential elections — alleged the American
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
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". 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".
Some facts of the 1980 coup are still clouded by reports of an "Unknown Soldier". 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, the First Lady witnessed a masked man with a "white" hand stabbing her late husband.
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
Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...
in South Korea and being awarded an honorary doctorate from the
University of Seoul
The University of Seoul (UOS; ) is a municipal public university in Seoul, South Korea. UOS is famous in South Korea for a very large number of alumni working as national or municipal government officials in South Korea. UOS specializes in ur ...
.
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.
Relations with the United States

During his first years in office, Doe openly supported U.S.
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
foreign policy in Africa during the 1980s, severing diplomatic relations between Liberia and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
.
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. 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 U.S.
Rapid Deployment Force
A rapid reaction force / rapid response force (RRF), quick reaction force / quick response force (QRF), immediate reaction force (IRF), rapid deployment force (RDF), or quick maneuver force (QMF) is a military or law enforcement unit capable of ...
(RDF), 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. He had a new constitution approved by
referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
in 1984 and went on to stage a
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The p ...
on 15 October 1985. According to official figures, Doe won 51% of the vote—just enough to avoid a runoff. The NDPL won 21 of the 26
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
seats and 51 of the 64 seats in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
. 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 (not related) of the
Liberian Action Party
The Liberian Action Party (LAP) was a political party in Liberia.
In the country's 1985 elections, LAP candidate Jackson Doe was the leading challenger to incumbent Head of State Samuel Doe. Official results showed that Samuel received a narro ...
had won. 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.
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.
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
Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
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.
Doe's 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 (or
Dan) and the
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
Charles Taylor, a former ally of Doe, crossed into Liberia from
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
on 24 December 1989 to wage a
guerrilla war
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...
against Doe. Taylor had broken out of a jail in the United States, where he was awaiting extradition to Liberia on charges of embezzlement. The conflict quickly flared into
full-fledged civil war. By the mid-1990s, most of Liberia was controlled by rebel factions.
Approximately 600 civilians were killed at the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in the Sinkor section of Monrovia on 29 July 1990. The massacre was carried out by approximately 30 government soldiers loyal to Doe. 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.
Capture
Doe was captured in
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
on 9 September 1990 by
Prince Johnson, leader of
INPFL, a breakaway faction of Taylor's
NPFL.
General Quainoo, the head of
ECOMOG
The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...
, had invited Doe to the ECOMOG headquarters for a meeting and assured him of his safety from the rebels. 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. 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 all of Doe's team while encountering no resistance. 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 Gambian 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.
Torture and murder
Doe was taken to Johnson's military base. To prove that he was not protected by
black magic
Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes.
The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...
,
[Vick, Karl]
"Liberian Strife Is Traced To Turbulent Past: Some Blame Turmoil On Its American Roots"
, ''Washington Post'', Foreign Service, 10 August 2003. Johnson ordered Doe's ears be cut off in his presence.
Shackles were also placed around Doe's legs and something strange was tied around his 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, 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
video-taped and seen on news reports around the country. The video shows Johnson sipping a beer as Doe's ear is cut off.
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. Doe was a passionate
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
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'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
TB Joshua.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doe, Samuel
1951 births
1990 deaths
Assassinated Liberian politicians
Executed presidents
Field marshals
Krahn people
Leaders who took power by coup
Liberian anti-communists
Liberian Baptists
National Democratic Party of Liberia politicians
People from Grand Gedeh County
People murdered in Liberia
People's Redemption Council
Presidents of Liberia
Filmed executions
20th-century Baptists
20th-century Liberian politicians
1990 murders in Africa
1990s murders in Liberia
1990 crimes in Liberia
African politicians assassinated in the 1990s
Torture victims
Assassinated presidents in Africa
National presidents assassinated in the 20th century
20th-century presidents in Africa
Politicians assassinated in 1990
Recipients of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa