Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Born in Pernambuco in 1945, Lula quit school after second grade, learned to read at ten, and worked as a teenage metalworker before becoming a union leader who led strikes against Brazil's military dictatorship between 1978 and 1980. He helped found the Workers' Party during redemocratization and lost three presidential races - 1989, 1994, 1998 - before finally winning in 2002. His first two terms brought social programs like Bolsa Família, GDP growth, and an 80% approval rating, though the Mensalão vote-buying scandal marked the era. In 2017 he was convicted of money laundering and corruption, spent 580 days in prison starting in 2018, and was barred from the 2018 election. The Supreme Court nullified his convictions in 2021, citing serious biases. He ran again in 2022, defeated Jair Bolsonaro, and took office in January 2023 as Brazil's oldest president at inauguration, navigating the 8 January attacks on federal institutions and pushing through tax and fiscal reforms amid GDP growth and rising public debt.