Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Born 15 July 1939, Aníbal Cavaco Silva trained as an economist before entering politics. He became prime minister in 1985 and held the office for ten years — the longest stretch since Salazar and a record for any democratically elected leader in Portugal's republican history. In that span he became the first prime minister to secure an absolute parliamentary majority under the post-1974 constitution, guided Portugal into the European Union, liberalized the economy, and upgraded infrastructure nationwide. He left office in 1995, then returned to power as president in 2006, serving two terms unt…