William V.S. Tubman Jr., 93, Son of Liberia’s Longest-Serving President, Dies

Monrovia – William V.S. Tubman Jr., son of former President William V.S. Tubman and son-in-law of President William R. Tolbert Jr., has died at 93.

Mr. Tubman was born in 1933, the son of William V.S. Tubman, who served as Liberia’s president from 1944 until his death in 1971 — the longest tenure of any Liberian head of state. He was also the son-in-law of his father’s successor, President William R. Tolbert Jr., having married Tolbert’s daughter, Wokie.

Known widely as “Shad,” Tubman became a public figure in his own right early in life. In the 1950s, his father’s influence saw him named head of the country’s Congress of Industrial Organizations, and he went on to serve as a senator during both the Tubman and Tolbert administrations.

Though born into one of Liberia’s most powerful families, Mr. Tubman often spoke of his life in terms of struggle rather than privilege, comparing himself to the Biblical Moses — a man born into comfort who endured hardship before leading his people. In earlier years, he had publicly broken with his father’s positions and pressed for greater political inclusion of Liberia’s tribal population, straining his relationship with both his father and his father-in-law.

He survived the bloody coup of April 12, 1980, in which President Tolbert and much of the country’s governing establishment were killed. Mr. Tubman was attending an international conference in Norway and taking a stopover in New York when the coup occurred; he did not return to Liberia and reunite with his family until more than a month later. In the coup’s immediate aftermath, he retained a measure of popularity among ordinary Liberians, and rumors persisted — never substantiated — that he had ties to the ruling military council.

In later years, Mr. Tubman was affiliated with the Reformed United Liberia Party (RULP).

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.