Megawati Sukarnoputri (born 1947) became vice president of Indonesia, the world's fourth-most-populous nation. This occurred in 1999, after a tumultuous time in her country's political affairs.

In 1998, Indonesians rioted and looted as they demanded new leadership. President Suharto had pilfered money from state coffers, placing him among the wealthiest people in the world. Suharto had originally risen to leadership in the late 1960s after Megawati's father, Sukarno, the first leader of independent Indonesia, was forced out. During this time, Suharto maintained a tight grip on power with his ruling party, Golkar. The citizenry did not rebel because he helped pull his nation out of poverty with oil sales. When the economy flagged in the 1980s and the Asian economic crisis hit in the 1990s, though, his days were numbered. After Suharto resigned, he named Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, a close ally for over three decades, as his successor. Amid further protests...