Kakuei Tanaka

Born on May 4, 1918 in Niigata Prefecture and died on Dec. 16, 1993. Tanaka became Japan's 40th prime minister in July 1972 at 54, the youngest prime minister since the end of World War II. Tanaka established diplomatic relations with China in September of that year. In December 1974, Tanaka was forced to resign due to his involvement in money scandals. In July 1976, he was arrested on suspicion of accepting 500 million yen in bribes from Lockheed Corp. of the U.S. for his help in selling TriStar aircraft to Japan. In October 1983, he was sentenced to four years in prison by the Tokyo District Court. Tanaka's political influence declined after he suffered a stroke in February 1985 which left him partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Photo was taken on Aug. 31, 1992.