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General (Ret.)
Suharto
Official portrait
Official portrait, c. 1973
2nd President of Indonesia
In office
27 March 1968 – 21 May 1998[a]
Vice President
See list
Preceded bySukarno
Succeeded byB. J. Habibie
Other offices
Chairman of Cabinet Presidium of Indonesia
In office
28 July 1966 – 12 March 1967
PresidentSukarno
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byOffice abolished
16th Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office
7 September 1992 – 20 October 1995
Preceded byDobrica Ćosić
Succeeded byErnesto Samper Pizano
4th Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces
In office
1968–1973
Preceded byAbdul Haris Nasution
Succeeded byMaraden Panggabean
8th Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army
In office
1965–1967
Preceded byPranoto Reksosamudro
Succeeded byMaraden Panggabean
14th Minister of Defense and Security of Indonesia
In office
March 1966 – September 1971
PresidentSukarno
Himself
Preceded byM. Sarbini
Succeeded byMaraden Panggabean
1st Commander of the Army General Reserve Corps
In office
6 March 1961 – 2 December 1965
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byUmar Wirahadikusumah
Personal details
Born(1921-06-08)8 June 1921
Kemusuk, Yogyakarta Sultanate, Dutch East Indies
Died27 January 2008(2008-01-27) (aged 86)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Resting placeAstana Giribangun, Matesih, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java
Political partyGolkar (Golongan Karya)
Spouse
(m. 1947; died 1996)
ChildrenSiti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut)[1]
Sigit Harjojudanto
Bambang Trihatmodjo
Siti Hediati Hariyadi (Titiek)
Hutomo Mandala Putra (Tommy)
Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih (Mamiek)
Parents
  • Kertosudiro (father)
  • Sukirah (mother)
Signature
Nickname(s)Pak Harto, The Smiling General
Military service
Allegiance Dutch East Indies
 Indonesia
Branch/service KNIL
(1940 – 42)
PETA
(1942-45)
Indonesian Army
(1945-74)
Years of service1940—1974
Rank General of the Army
UnitArmy General Reserve Corps (Kostrad)
CommandsDiponegoro Division
Kostrad
Indonesian Army
Indonesian National Armed Forces
Battles/wars

Darul Islam Rebellion


West New Guinea dispute


Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation


Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66

Suharto (/sˈhɑːrt/; Indonesian pronunciation; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving President of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a dictator by international observers, Suharto was president for 31 years from the fall of Sukarno in 1967 until his resignation in 1998.[1][2][3] The legacy of his 31-year rule, and his US$38 billion net worth, is still debated at home and abroad.[4]

Suharto was born in the small village of Kemusuk, in the Godean area near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era.[5] He grew up in humble circumstances.[6] His Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he lived with foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of the country, Suharto served in the Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined joining the newly formed Indonesian Army. There, Suharto rose to the rank of Major general by the time full Indonesian independence was achieved.

An attempted coup on 30 September and 1 October 1965 was "countered" by Suharto-led troops. According to the official history made by the army, this attempt was backed by the Communist Party of Indonesia.[7] The army subsequently led an anti-communist purge and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno. He was appointed acting president in 1967 and elected president the following year. He then mounted a social campaign known as "de-Sukarnoization" to reduce the former president's influence. Support for Suharto's presidency was active throughout the 1970s and 1980s. By the 1990s, the New Order's authoritarianism and widespread corruption[8][9] were a source of discontent and, following the 1997 Asian financial crisis which led to widespread unrest, he resigned in May 1998. Suharto died in January 2008 and was given a state funeral.

Under his "New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralised and military-dominated government. An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant industrialisation, economic growth, and improved levels of educational attainment.[10][11] Plans to award the status of National Hero to Suharto are being considered by the Indonesian government and have been debated vigorously in Indonesia.[12] According to Transparency International, Suharto is the most corrupt leader in modern history, having embezzled an alleged US$15–35 billion during his rule.[13][14]

Name

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Like many people of Javanese origin, Suharto had only a single name.[9] Religious contexts in recent years has sometimes referred to him with the title "Haji" or "el-Haj Mohammed Suharto", but these names were not part of his formal name or generally used. The spelling "Suharto" reflects modern Indonesian spelling, although the general approach in Indonesia is to rely on the spelling preferred by the person concerned. At the time of his birth, the standard transcription was "Soeharto", but he preferred the original spelling. The international English-language press generally uses the spelling 'Suharto' while the Indonesian government and media use 'Soeharto'.[15]

Early life

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Suharto was born on 8 June 1921 in a plaited-bamboo-walled house in the hamlet of Kemusuk, a part of the larger village of Godean, Sultanate of Yogyakarta, then under the rule of the Dutch colonial government. The village is 15 kilometres (9 mi) west of Yogyakarta, the cultural heartland of the Javanese people.[11][16] Born to ethnic Javanese parents, he was the only child of his father's second marriage. His father, Kertosudiro, had two children from his previous marriage and was a village irrigation official. His mother, Sukirah, a local woman, was distantly related to Hamengkubuwono V by his first concubine.[17]

Five weeks after Suharto's birth, his mother suffered a nervous breakdown; he was placed in the care of his paternal great-aunt, Kromodirjo as a result.[18] Kertosudiro and Sukirah divorced early in Suharto's life and both later remarried. At the age of three, Suharto was returned to his mother, who had married a local farmer whom Suharto helped in the rice paddies.[18] In 1929, Suharto's father took him to live with his sister, who was married to an agricultural supervisor, Prawirowihardjo, in the town of Wuryantoro in a poor and low-yielding farming area near Wonogiri. Over the following two years, he was taken back to his mother in Kemusuk by his stepfather and then back again to Wuryantoro by his father.[19]

Prawirowihardjo took to raising the boy as his own, which provided Suharto with a father-figure and a stable home in Wuryantoro. In 1931, he moved to the town of Wonogiri to attend the primary school, living first with Prawirohardjo's son Sulardi, and later with his father's relative Hardjowijono. While living with Hardjowijono, Suharto became acquainted with Darjatmo, a dukun ("shaman") of Javanese mystical arts and faith healing. The experience deeply affected him and later, as president, Suharto surrounded himself with powerful symbolic language.[11] Difficulties in paying the fees for his education in Wonogiri resulted in another move back to his father in Kemusuk, where he continued studying at a lower-fee Muhammadiyah middle school in the city of Yogyakarta until 1939.[19][20]

Military service

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World War II and Japanese occupation

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Indonesian National Revolution

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Post-Independence military career

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Rise to power

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Guided democracy and background

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Abortive coup and anti-communist purge

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Power struggle with Sukarno

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New Order

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Ideology of the regime

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Consolidation of power

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Domestic politics and security

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Economy policies

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Foreign policy

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Socio-economic progress

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Growth and rise of corruption

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Last years in power

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Downfall

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1997 Asian financial crisis

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Riots, protests, and resignation

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Post-presidency

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Corruption charges

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Illness and death

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Honors

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National honors

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Foreign honors

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Berger, Marilyn (28 January 2008). "Suharto Dies at 86; Indonesian Dictator Brought Order and Bloodshed". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Gittings, John (28 January 2008). "Obituary: Suharto, former Indonesian dictator: 1921-2008". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Hutton, Jeffrey (19 May 2018). "Is Indonesia's Reformasi a success, 20 years after Suharto?". South China Morning Post. ...would topple the dictator Suharto.
  4. ^ Wiranto (2011), p. 24.
    Forrester, Geoff; May, R.J. (1998). The Fall of Soeharto. Bathurst, Australia: C. Hurst and Co. ISBN 1-86333-168-9.
  5. ^ Dwipayana & Ramadhan (1989), p. 13.
  6. ^ See the details in Chapter 2, 'Akar saya dari desa' (My village roots), in Dwipayana & Ramadhan (1989), p. 14.
  7. ^ Friend (2003), pp. 107–9.
    Chris Hilton (writer and director) (2001). Shadowplay (Television documentary). Vagabond Films and Hilton Cordell Productions.
    Ricklefs (1991), pp. 280–3, 284, 287–90.
  8. ^ Estimates of government funds misappropriated by the Suharto family range from US$1.5 billion and US$5 billion.(Ignatius, Adi (11 September 2007). "Mulls Indonesia Court Ruling". Time. Archived from the original on 2 February 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2009.).
  9. ^ a b Haskin, Colin, "Suharto dead at 86", The Globe and Mail, 27 January 2008
  10. ^ Miguel, Edward; Paul Gertler; David I. Levine (January 2005). "Does Social Capital Promote Industrialization? Evidence from a Rapid Industrializer". Econometrics Software Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley.
  11. ^ a b c McDonald, Hamish (28 January 2008). "No End to Ambition". Sydney Morning Herald.
  12. ^ "Pro Kontra Soeharto Pahlawan Nasional". Trias Politica (in Indonesian). 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  13. ^ Global Corruption Report 2004: Political Corruption by Transparency International - Issue. Pluto Press. 2004. p. 13. ISBN 0-7453-2231-X – via Issuu.com.
  14. ^ "Suharto tops corruption rankings". BBC News. 25 March 2004. Retrieved 4 February 2006.
  15. ^ Romano, Angela Rose (2003). Politics and the press in Indonesia. p. ix. ISBN 0-7007-1745-5.
  16. ^ Tom Lansford. Historical Dictionary of U.S. Diplomacy since the Cold War. Scarecrow Press; 10 September 2007. ISBN 978-0-8108-6432-0. p. 260.
  17. ^ Tempo (Jakarta), 11 November 1974.
  18. ^ a b McDonald (1980), p. 10.
  19. ^ a b McDonald (1980), p. 11.
  20. ^ Elson (2001), pp. 1–6.

Sources

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Bibliography

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