R. Venkataraman held public office at a time when the terms of that office were themselves being contested.
The record lists R. Venkataraman as President of India from 1987 to 1992.
R. Venkataraman was born at Thanjavur district in 1910. His recorded nationality is Dominion of India. He was educated at Loyola College and University of Madras.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, mass movements, total war and the collapse of empires reshaped what a political career could be.
The record of office reads: President of India (1987–1992), Vice President of India (1984–1987) and Member of the Lok Sabha.
His political affiliation is recorded as Indian National Congress.
Power is judged twice: once by contemporaries who felt it, and again by historians who did not.
That the career was made in Dominion of India is not incidental: the institutions available, the franchise, and the constraints of the moment all shaped what could be attempted.
R. Venkataraman died in 2009, aged 99. The assessment continues, as it does for anyone who held power - which is the ordinary fate of a political life.
Achievements
- President of India (1987–1992)
- Vice President of India (1984–1987)
- Member of the Lok Sabha
- Minister of Home Affairs (1982–1982)
- Educated at Loyola College and University of Madras
