Ramaswamy Venkataraman (born 4 December 1910) was the President of India between 1987 and 1992. He had previously served as the Vice-President of India from 1984 until 1987, resigning before the end of his 5-year term as vice-president to undertake the office of the President. A member of the Indian National Congress party, he has held various ministerial positions in the course of his political career.
Venkataraman was the member of constituent assembly that drafted India's constitution and also member of first Lok Sabha constituted in 1952. He later went on to serve as the Minister of Industries in the erstwhile Madras state before returning to national politics. He also served as the defence minister of India during the early 1980s.
He is currently the third oldest living former head of state in the world behind Aden Abdullah Osman Daar and Anthony Mamo.
Quotes
"The office of the President is like an emergency light. It comes on automatically when there is a crisis and goes off automatically when the crisis passes away."
