H.M. King Baudouin I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1953 until 1993. Born in Belgium in 1930, he became King following his father’s abdication in 1951. King Leopold III had requested the Belgian government delegate his royal powers to his son and also allow him to ascend the throne. Upon becoming King, he found he had inherited a monarchy in crisis due to his father’s controversial actions during World War Two and his subsequent abdication. To further complicate matters the country was split in two due to provinces being separated by French and Flemish speakers. During his reign, however, King Badouin devoted himself to reconciling the two groups and unifying the country. He also attempted to bring peace abroad, as shown by his desire to act as a mediator to Belgium’s colonies who were moving towards independence. In 1959, he travelled to the Congo in order to help prevent the country succumbing to a state of anarchy. While his presence provoked demonstrators he was credited for his attempts at peace-making when he returned to Belgium. The colony of Congo eventually gained independence during King Badouin’s reign and he chose to personally attend the celebrations. In 1976 he formed the King Badouin Foundation, a foundation that is still active today and serves to improve the living conditions of the population. He was regarded as an honest, hardworking and involved King whose devout Roman Catholic faith influenced many of his policy decisions. He was bestowed with numerous awards before his death in 1993 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Prince Albert of Liege.

H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Sulman Al-Khalifa is the Prime Minister of Bahrain, a position he has held since 1971, making him the longest serving Prime Minister in the world. Born in Bahrain in 1935, he became a member of the Education Council in 1956 and was quickly promoted to Chairman a year later,  serving in this position until 1960. He was then appointed Director of the Finance Department, a role he held for six years, whilst also acting as Director of Finance and President of the Electricity Board, Chairman of Manama Municipality and Head of the Bahrain Monetary Council. His many years of experience in diverse  sections of Bahrain’s government led to him being appointed Chairman of the Joint Committee for Economic and Financial Studies in 1967. In 1970 he was elected Head of the State Council and the following year he was chosen to become Prime Minister. He remains Prime Minister today, and over the course of his career he has been granted many accolades and awards including the Gold Mercury International Award, as well as the Order of Khalifa and the Grand Cordon of the Orders of the Renaissance.

H.E. Zhao Ziyang was presented with the 1984 Gold Mercury International Peace prize for his implementation of ground-breaking reforms and his efforts to fight corruption. Zhao Ziyang began to play an active role in China’s politics in 1932 when he joined the Communist Youth League, becoming a full member of the party in 1938. Mr. Zhao achieved prominence as a Party leader in Guangdong in the early 1950′s, later following Mao in his Great Leap Forward and creation of an artificial famine. The severity of Mao’s actions during the Great Leap Forward, where rich peasants were tortured into revealing their food supply and millions died from starvation, led Mr. Zhao to support more moderate political and economic policies. One such policy was supporting a move to re-introduce limited amounts of private agriculture and commerce to people, a reform which was replicated throughout China. By returning private plots to farmers he helped reinvigorate China’s agricultural sector. In 1964 he became Provincial First Party Secretary of Guangdong province. He was dismissed from this position during the Cultural Revolution, due to his moderate political stance. Following Mr. Zhao’s lengthy political rehabilitation, he was appointed First Party Secretary of China’s largest province, Sichuan in 1975. It was here that Mr. Zhao introduced radical market oriented reforms, which significantly improved industrial production and agricultural output. This also led to his induction into the Politburo as a full member in 1979 and his appointment as Premier a year later. As Premier, Mr. Zhao oversaw the introduction of a new “market socialist” and “open door” economic programme. His aim was to develop a model for transforming the socialist system through the process of gradual economic reform. He also worked successfully to establish special economic zones in order to draw in foreign investments and create export hubs. It was his reform-minded political leadership and desire to rebuild the Chinese economy, which saw him become a Gold Mercury International laureate.

H.E. Todor Zhivkov was the former Chairman of the State Council of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, as well as serving as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party for 35 years. Born in Bulgaria in 1911, he became an apprentice printer in the 1920′s before joining the youth wing of the Communist movement. During World War Two Mr Zhivkov fought in the partisan movement against Bulgaria’s alignment with Nazi Germany. In 1944 he became the Head of the Sofia Police Force and in 1945 he was elected to the BKP Central Committee as a candidate member and made a full member in 1948. In 1954 Mr Zhivkov became the youngest communist party leader in the Soviet Bloc; however, Chervenkov retained some of his powers as Prime Minister. In 1971 he was promoted to Chairman of the new council state, which gave him full control of Bulgarian affairs. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader oversaw his rise to power and it was because of this that Mr Zhivkov was and still is regarded as a leader who was obedient to Moscow. Mr Zhivkov made significant gains to social policy in Bulgaria during his time as leader. Housing improved due to the building of better quality homes, standards of living increased and educational reforms were implemented. His foreign policy focused on increased relations with Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Albania and Romania and an alliance with the Soviet Union. Due to Mr Zhivkov’s relationship with Khrushchev, however, his policy towards the Western World, particularly the United States, was determined by the Soviets. In 1989, a day after the Berlin Wall was breached, he was removed from power, found guilty of embezzling state funds and sentenced to seven years in prison, a sentence that was completed under house arrest. He was acquitted in 1996 by the Bulgarian Supreme Court and passed away two years later.

Giuseppe Saragat received the 1970 Gold Mercury International Peace Award during his final years as President of the Italian Republic. Mr Saragat was born in Turin, Italy and graduated from The University of Turin with a degree in Economics and Commerce. He joined the Socialist Party in 1922, later becoming the leader of the party. Following the establishment of the Fascist dictatorship in 1926 and Saragat’s vocally staunch opposition to it, he was exiled from 1926 and 1943. After returning to Italy in 1943, Mr Saragat became a member of the Italian Socialist Party (ISP) in 1944. Between 1945 and 1946 he served as Ambassador to France before becoming Chairman of the Constituent Assembly between 1946 and 1947. In 1947 Mr Saragat split with the ISP due to his concern over its close alliance with those supporting communism. He then founded the Italian Socialist Workers’ Party, which was later renamed the Italian Social Democratic Party. Mr Saragat served as Deputy Prime Minster between  1947-1949 and 1954-1957. In 1963 he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs before serving as Italy’s President from 1964 to 1971. Throughout his political life, Mr Saragat strived to ensure an anti-fascist Italian state whilst encouraging the continuing development of NATO and the common market, as well as strengthening Italy’s ties with the United States of America.

Gerald Ford was the former President of the United States, rising from the position of Vice President to President following the Watergate scandal. Mr Ford was born in Omaha in 1913 and attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1935 and later graduating from Yale Law School in 1941. He went on to open a law practice and worked there until he received a call to duty in the U.S Naval Reserve. During World War Two he earned the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. Upon his return from war, Mr Ford became actively involved in local Republican politics and was elected to Congress in 1948. In 1964 former President Lyndon Johnson secured a second term and chose Ford to become Minority Leader, a role he held for eight years. In 1973 Vice President Agnew resigned and Ford was chosen as the replacement Vice President. Then in 1964 following Nixon’s resignation, Ford assumed the presidency, during a time in which there were issues of inflation, a depressed economy, energy shortages and the on-going task of ensuring world peace. Seeking to calm the widespread domestic tension that had arisen over the issues plaguing America, President Ford granted Nixon a full pardon. His goal in his first year in office was to tackle inflation and implement measures that would stimulate the economy. In the realm of foreign affairs President Ford worked to maintain U.S power, as well as to prevent a new war in the Middle East. President Ford achieved the latter of these two issues by giving aid to Egypt and Israel, which in turn, led to the two countries accepting an interim truce agreement. He also worked with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to set limitations on the use of nuclear weapons. Gold Mercury International formally recognised President Ford for this international act of peace by awarding him the Global Peace and Security Award in 1976. Mr Ford went on to gain the Republican nomination for presidency in the 1976 election, however he lost to Jimmy Carter. Following his defeat President Ford joined the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) as a fellow, as well as founded the AEI World Forum. His final act for America, before his death in 2006, was in 2004 when he became an Honorary Member of AEI’s board, whose main goal was to rebuild the World Trade Centre.

Georges Pompidou was a French politician who served as both Prime Minister of France and President of the French Republic. He fought in World War Two as a Lieutenant and was awarded with the Croix de Guerre. He was introduced to politics in 1944 after meeting Charles de Gaulle who was Head of the provisional French government at the time. He was quickly appointed to Charles De Gaulle’s staff and remained a member of his shadow cabinet following his resignation in 1946. He was then chosen as Assistant to the General Commissioner for Tourism before being appointed to the post of Maître des Requêtes at the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative court. In 1953 he was hired by Guy de Rothschild to begin working at the Rothschild Bank, even without formal banking qualifications. By 1956 he had risen to become the General Manager of the bank. When De Gaulle returned to power during the Algerian crisis in 1958, Mr Pompidou became his Chief Personal Assistant and later, when De Gaulle became president in 1959, he was appointed Premier. Mr Pompidou was elected Prime Minister in 1962 and served until 1968, making him the longest serving French Prime Minister under the Fifth Republic. In 1969, following De Gaulle’s resignation, Mr Pompidou campaigned for the office of President and was subsequently elected. Soon after his appointment Mr Pompidou began embarking on an industrialisation plan for France and advanced the French civilian nuclear programme. His time in office was also underlined by efforts to modernise Paris. He was successful in continuing De Gaulle’s policies and ensured continued diplomatic relations and economic ties with Arab states, as well as a strengthened French economy. Mr Pompidou died whilst still in office in 1974.