Finnish President. He served as the 9th President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served twice as Prime Minister, from 1968 to 1970 and 1979 to 1982. He was the first Social Democrat to be elected President of Finland. As a fatherless 16-year-old, he joined the military during the Winter War. For his military service, he received the Order of the Cross of Liberty. After the war, he became a carpenter like his father. He became active in politics, joining the Social Democratic Party, which was highly involved with the unions on the docks. He continued his education, becoming a school teacher in 1951. He graduated from the University of Turku with a Master of Arts degree in 1953. His goal was to become a sociologist. Three years later, he completed his doctoral thesis, which examined social relations in the Turku dockyards. Koivisto also served as Vocational Counselor for the City of Turku, and as a member of the Turku City Council. In 1957 he entered the banking business, working his way to chairman of the board at the Bank of Finland in 1968 and holding the position for fourteen years. Koivisto became the Prime Minister of his first government, the Koivisto I Cabinet, on March 22, 1968, serving for two years. Using his banking experience, he was Minister of Finance from May 27, 1966 to December 31, 1967 and February 23, 1972 and September 4, 1972. Besides his other governmental positions, for seven months in 1972, he was Deputy Prime Minister of Finland. In 1994, his term as President ended, and upon retiring, he published his memoirs in four volumes and continued as a commentator on economics and both domestic and international politics. After leaving politics, he continued to represent Finland at international events, such as funerals. He had a serious cardiac event in 2010. Koivisto's health deteriorated in December of 2016 due to Alzheimer's Disease with his wife being his care giver. After his health declined further, he became a hospice patient in a nursing home. He had a state funeral. He and his wife had one child, a daughter, who became active in politics.