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The Most Dramatic & Short Lived Reigns of Power in History

Khalid Elhassan February 28, 2023 23 min

Prime Minister for a Few Minutes

Power - Siaka Stevens, on the cover of his autobiography — Siaka Stevens, on the cover of his autobiography. Amazon

Sierra Leonean politician Siaka Stevens (1905 – 1988), who ruled as both prime minister and president, might have had the shortest stint of power in recorded history. Born in the then British Protectorate of Sierra Leone, Stevens worked as a policeman, mine worker, railway station manager, and union organizer before he became a career politician. In 1943 he founded the United Mineworkers Union, studied labor relations at Oxford University a few years later, and in 1952, became minister of lands, mines, and labor.

Stevens continued his rise up the political rungs after Sierra Leone gained its independence, and on March 17^th, 1967, his party won elections by a narrow margin. Stevens became prime minister, but his rule lasted for just a few minutes before he was arrested in a military coup. Exiled to Guinea, he returned to Sierra Leone thirteen months later, after another military coup, and resumed his office as prime minister on April 26^th, 1968. His second stint in power lasted longer than his first, and he ruled the country, first as prime minister and then as president, from 1968 until 1985.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.