December 12, 1862 - Cao Kun
His path to China's presidency was secured not through military victory or popular mandate but through the systematic bribery of members of parliament — an episode that became one of the more brazen examples of institutional corruption during the fractious warlord era. As the dominant figure of the Zhili clique, he wielded both military and political power at a moment when central authority in China had largely dissolved into competing regional factions.
From Wikipedia
General Cao Kun (simplified Chinese: 曹锟; traditional Chinese: 曹錕; pinyin: Cáo Kūn; Wade–Giles: Ts'ao K'un; courtesy name: Zhongshan (仲珊); December 12, 1862 – May 15, 1938) was a Chinese warlord and politician, who served as the President of China from 1923 to 1924, as well as the military leader of the Zhili clique in the Beiyang Army.
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