# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/syngman-rhee
# Generated: 2026-08-31T14:41:09.052Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/syngman-rhee"
name: "Syngman Rhee"
slug: "syngman-rhee"
description: "South Korea's first president, who held power from 1948 until mass protests forced him out in 1960. His twelve-year rule combined rigid anti-communism with growing authoritarianism, ending when rigged elections triggered street uprisings and police killings that made his position untenable."
tagline: "President of South Korea from 1948 to 1960"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Rhee_Syng-Man_in_1948.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1875-03-26"
deathDate: "1965-07-19"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           63.85
  momentum:             0.5432062417194171
  historical:           26.134008
  currentAttention:     8.04716514899792
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  65
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Journalism"
    slug: "journalism"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722225/"
    handle:    "nm0722225"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q171684"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Syngman%20Rhee"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A5%D9%8A_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%BA_%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "إي سنغ مان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%89_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AC_%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "اى سنج مان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_S%C4%B1n_Man"
    title: "Li Sın Man"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%96_%D0%A1%D1%8B%D0%BD_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BD"
    title: "Лі Сын Ман"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "রী সিংম্যান"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C4%AB_S%C3%ACng-u%C4%81ng"
    title: "Lī Sìng-uāng"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ceb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhee_Syng-man"
    title: "Rhee Syng-man"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A3%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B3%CE%BA%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%BD_%CE%A1%CE%B9"
    title: "Σίνγκμαν Ρι"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%86%DA%AF%E2%80%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%84%DB%8C"
    title: "سونگ‌مان لی"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gan.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E6%89%BF%E6%99%A9"
    title: "李承晩"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ko.wikiquote.org/wiki/%EC%9D%B4%EC%8A%B9%EB%A7%8C"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Sung-man"
    title: "I Sung-man"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee"
    title: "Syngman Rhee"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in 1875 during the Joseon period, Rhee converted to Christianity at a Methodist school and became an independence activist, landing in prison in 1899. Released in 1904, he left for the United States, earned American degrees, and moved between Hawaii and exile politics in Shanghai, serving twice as president of the Korean Provisional Government before returning to US-controlled Korea in 1945. Elected by the National Assembly in July 1948, he steered South Korea through the Korean War—refusing to sign the armistice because he wanted the peninsula reunited by force. His government battled illiteracy but lagged economically behind the North and leaned hard on American aid. After pushing through constitutional changes to extend his rule and winning an uncontested 1960 election—his opponent died of cancer beforehand—the rigged vice-presidential result sparked the April Revolution; police shot demonstrators in Masan, and Rhee resigned on 26 April. He flew to Honolulu in May, insisting he'd gone for medical treatment, not exile, and died there of a stroke in 1965.