Gnassingbé Eyadéma was a Togolese politician who served as the President of Togo for 38 years, from 1967 until his death in 2005. He came to power through a military coup, having previously played a key role in two other coups. His long rule was marked by authoritarianism, a strong cult of personality, and allegations of human rights abuses. Despite this, he maintained power through a single-party state for many years and later through multi-party elections that were widely criticized as fraudulent.