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'Joseph Jenkins Roberts' (March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) served as the first (1848-1856) and seventh (1872-1876) President of Liberia.
Roberts, born a free man of African and European ancestry, was raised in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. He moved to Petersburg, Virginia where he worked in his family's boating business.
In 1829 his family moved to Liberia and established a trading store in Monrovia. In 1839, Roberts became Liberia's lieutenant governor and afterwards, its governor (1841–1848). He is known as the father of Liberia and helped Liberia win its independence in 1847, and he became the first president of Liberia.
In 1871 President Edward J. Roye was deposed in a coup d'état by elements loyal to the Republican Party on the grounds that he was planning to cancel the upcoming elections. Roberts, one of the Republican Party's leaders, won the ensuing presidential election and thus returned to office. He served until 1876, although he was incapacitated by illness from 1875 until his death the following year.
Liberia's main airport, Roberts International Airport, is named in honor of Joseph Roberts.

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Further reading

External links

Further reading

★ ''Virginia's Ninth President, Joseph Jakey Brown'' by C. W. Tazwell

External links

★ Liberia Past and Present: J. J. Roberts