Monrovia, Feb. 16 -- Willie Tolbert stumbled upon the Presidency by accident. When then Speaker of the House of Representatives, B.G. Freeman was selected by the True Whig Party to replace Vice President Clarence Lorenzo Simpson, heading into the election of 1951, Freeman died suddenly, and was replaced by Representative William R. Tolbert, Jr. Freeman's death gave rise to the birth of the Tubman-Tolbert ticket which won, and the pair was inaugurated as President and VP in 1952.

By Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com

The pair went on to win elections every four years after the 1955 election against the independent True Whig party headed by former President Edwin Barclay up to 1971, although under a quasi-one-party stat...