Tubman, William V. S., 1895-1971

William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman ( 1895-1971 ), nineteenth president of Liberia, was born November 29, 1895 in Harper City, Maryland County, Liberia to Alexander Tubman and Elizabeth Rebecca Barnes Tubman . His paternal grandparents, manumitted slaves, were repatriates who in 1837 had immigrated from Georgia ( USA ) to the Maryland Colony in Africa . Tubman received his education at Government Elementary School in Harper City and the Cape Palmas Methodist Seminary. He began his political career in 1912 as an assistant in Probate Court, going on to serve in Harper City as a Councilman and teacher from 1914-1917 . During this period Tubman also read law under the tutelage of Senator Monroe Cummings . He was admitted into the Maryland County bar in 1917 and appointed County Attorney. He became Inspector of Internal Revenue in 1919 . He was elected to the Liberian Senate from Maryland County in 1923, serving until 1937 at which time President Edwin J. Barclay appointed him to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia. Tubman left the Supreme Court in 1943 to run for the presidency. His campaign was successful and he succeeded Edwin J. Barclay as president in January 1944 . Clarence L. Simpson, Sr. served as his first vice president.

As Liberia’s longest serving president, Tubman’s presidency was marked by great changes in the economy, politics and social environment of Liberia and the African continent. Scholars divide the Tubman presidency into three periods. During the first period ( 1944-1955 ), he made successful efforts to bring loyal personal and political supporters into the government. As a Monrovia outsider he created a new political base of indigenous Liberians and disaffected members of the political elite. He also began to implement the policies that would characterize his presidency: the pursuit of national unification through accelerated assimilation of indigenous Liberians into the mainstream of an essentially repatriate-created society; advocacy of his Open Door Policy for foreign economic involvement in development; and diplomatically aligning with the Western countries in their East/West power conflicts.

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