Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (September 12, 1902-August 22, 1976) was a prominent Brazilian leader and politician.
Although trained as a doctor, he was elected to the House of Representatives in Minas Gerais state in 1934. However, with the advent of Getúlio Dornelles Vargas' "fascist" Estado Novo in 1937, he was forced to go back to pracicing medicine.
Even so, he was appointed mayor of Belo Horizonte in 1940.
He was again elected to Minas Gerais' House of Representatives in 1945, and became governor of the state in 1950. In 1955, he ran for president with the slogan "Fifty years of progress in five", and won.
He was sworn in on January 31, 1956 as President of what was then known as the Republic of the United States of Brazil.
His five year tenture resulted in Brazil progressing by leaps and bounds. Almong many projects he managed to complete was Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil, located in the heart of the country. He also completed major road construction, as well as founding Brazil's automotive industry. The economy boomed.
Juscelino was succeeded by Janio Quadros in 1961. When the military troops took the power in 1964, he had his political rights suspended. He went into self-imposed exile, and stayed in numerous US and European cities.
He did come back to Brazil, but was unfortunately killed in a car crash in 1976.