K. R. Narayanan

K. R. Narayanan
K. R. Narayanan
10th President of India
In office 25 July 1997 (1997-07-25) – 25 July 2002 (2002-07-25)
Prime Minister	I. K. Gujral Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Vice President	Krishan Kant
Preceded by	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Succeeded by	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
10th Vice President of India
In office 27 October 1992 (1992-10-27) – 24 July 1997 (1997-07-24)
President	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral
Preceded by	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Succeeded by	Krishan Kant
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1984 (1984)–1992 (1992)
Preceded by	A. K. Balan
Constituency	Ottapalam
Indian Ambassador to United States
In office 1980 (1980)–1984 (1984)
Preceded by	Nanabhoy Palkhivala
Indian Ambassador to China
In office 7 July 1976 (1976-07-07) – 11 November 1978 (1978-11-11)
Succeeded by	Ram Sathe
Personal details
Born	(1920-10-27)27 October 1920 Uzhavoor, Kingdom of Travancore, British India (now Kerala, India)
Died	9 November 2005(2005-11-09) (aged 85) New Delhi, Delhi, India
Spouse	Usha Narayanan ​ (m. 1951)​
Children	2 (including Chitra Narayanan)
Alma mater	University of Kerala (BA, MA) London School of Economics (BSc)
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Kocheril Raman Narayanan listen^ⓘ (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005)^[1][2] was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the ninth vice president of India from 1992 to 1997 and tenth president of India from 1997 to 2002.

Narayanan was born in Perumthanam, Uzhavoor village, in the princely state of Travancore (present day Kottayam district, Kerala) as a member of the Dalit community. After a brief stint with journalism and then studies at the London School of Economics with the assistance of a scholarship, Narayanan began his career in India as a member of the Indian Foreign Service in the Nehru administration. He served as ambassador to a number of countries, most principally to the United States and China, and was referred by Nehru as "the best diplomat of the country".^[3] He entered politics at Indira Gandhi's request and won three successive general elections to the Lok Sabha and served as a Minister of State in Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet. Elected as vice president in 1992, Narayanan went on to become president in 1997 and became the first Dalit to occupy either position.

Narayanan is regarded as an independent and assertive president who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of India's highest constitutional office. He described himself as a "working president" who worked "within the four corners of the Constitution"; something midway between an "executive president" who has direct power and a "rubber-stamp president" who endorses government decisions without question or deliberation.^[4] He used his discretionary powers as a president and deviated from convention and precedent in many situations, including – but not limited to – the appointment of the Prime Minister in a hung Parliament, in dismissing a state government and imposing President's rule there at the suggestion of the Union Cabinet, and during the Kargil conflict. He presided over the golden jubilee celebrations of Indian independence and in the country's general election of 1998, he became the first Indian president to vote when in office, setting another new precedent. As of 2023, he remains the last Indian to have been elected President, while serving as Vice President.