Shinzo Abe's career wins and losses 2:46
Tokyo (CNN)
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who died at the age of 67 after being shot during a campaign speech on Friday, July 8, 2022, has served as leader of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party. PLD) for two different terms: the first, from 2006 to 2007, and the second, from 2012 to 2020. His second term was the longest consecutive of a Japanese head of government.
Japanese politician Shinzo Abe attends a political fundraising party at a hotel in Tokyo on April 14, 2022.
Abe will be remembered for driving defense spending and the most drastic change in Japanese military policy in 70 years.
In 2015, his government approved a reinterpretation of Japan's postwar antiwar constitution, allowing Japanese troops to engage in combat abroad, under certain conditions, for the first time since World War II.
Abe argued the change was necessary to respond to a more challenging security environment, a nod to a more assertive China and North Korea's frequent missile tests.
During his tenure, Abe tried to improve relations with Beijing and had a historic phone call with China's leader Xi Jinping in 2018. At the same time, he tried to counter Chinese expansion in the region by uniting Pacific allies.
After leaving office, Abe remained the head of the largest faction of the ruling LDP party and continued to be influential within the party.
He continued his campaign for a stronger security policy and last year he angered China by calling for greater commitment from allies to defend democracy in Taiwan.
In response, Beijing subpoenaed Japan's ambassador and accused Abe of openly challenging China's sovereignty.
Abe bows to applause from lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after winning the party's presidential election on September 20, 2006.
Abe was born on September 21, 1954 in Tokyo, into a prominent political family.
Both his grandfather and his great-uncle were prime ministers, and his father was secretary general of the PLD.
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He studied politics at Tokyo Seiki University and the University of Southern California, but initially went into business, accepting a position at Kobe Steel in 1979. Three years later, he became assistant to the foreign minister.
Abe was first elected to the Japanese House of Representatives in 1993, at the age of 38.
He held various cabinet positions during the early 2000s, and in 2003 he became secretary general of the PLD.
Four years later, he was appointed chairman of the party and became the prime minister of Japan.
His first term was marred by controversies and his failing health, and he stepped down as party leader and prime minister in 2007. The end of Abe's first term ushered in a revolving door in which five different men took office. prime ministerial post for five years until his re-election in 2012. He stepped down in 2020 citing health problems.
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diplomatic history
Abe was a leading figure on the world stage.
He cultivated strong ties with Washington, Tokyo's traditional ally, and tried to establish a personal relationship with former US President Donald Trump, traveling to New York to meet the newly elected Republican president while former President Barack Obama
was still in office.
During that "unofficial" 2016 meeting, Trump's first with a world leader, Abe praised the US-Japan alliance and said he wanted to "build trust" with the new president.
He strongly supported Trump's initial hard line on North Korea, which was consistent with Abe's own tendencies.
Abe escorts then-President Donald Trump during a welcoming ceremony at the Akasaka Palace on November 6, 2017.
But as Washington's relationship with Pyongyang tilted toward diplomacy, with both Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in holding historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Abe seemed to be left out.
No meeting between Abe and Kim was scheduled, and in September 2019, the Japanese leader said he remained "determined" to meet with him.
Abe wanted to normalize relations with North Korea and ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, but his first priority was to bring some closure to the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.
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During his tenure, Japan's relations with South Korea deteriorated.
The two countries were locked in a major dispute in which trade and military-intelligence deals were scrapped, in part because of the legacy of World War II and Japan's brutal colonization of the Korean peninsula.
Japan's then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrating in Buenos Aires after Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in September 2013.
The success and setback of "Super Mario" in the Olympic Games
Abe came to office at a time of economic turbulence and soon set out to revive the Japanese economy after decades of stagnation.
Shortly after being re-elected prime minister in 2012, he launched a grand experiment popularly known as "Abenomics."
It included three arrows: massive monetary stimulus, increased government spending, and structural reforms.
Abe's allies hailed the plan for reviving the country's economy and boosting consumer and investor confidence.
But after a strong start, it faltered, and in 2015 Abe launched "three new arrows" designed to boost gross domestic product.
All hopes that they could hit the target were dashed when covid-19 swept through the country in 2020, throwing Japan into recession.
One of Abe's biggest inner achievements was securing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Abe charmed gamers around the world when he dressed up as the Japanese icon Super Mario during the closing ceremony of the Rio Games in 2016, to introduce Tokyo as the next host city.
Shinzo Abe, dressed as Super Mario, holds a red ball during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
In a segment ready to become an instant meme, Abe, wearing an oversized red cap, climbed out of a green pipe, as sounds from the video game Super Mario echoed through the Maracanã stadium.
However, the success of the long-awaited Tokyo Games was ultimately cut short by the covid-19 pandemic, which forced the competition to be postponed until 2021.
The initial unwillingness to delay the Games was blamed in part on Japan's slow response to the coronavirus pandemic, which hit the country in early 2020. Abe declared a state of emergency months after the first cases were detected.
His administration was also criticized for the slow pace of testing and the early lack of specialized medical teams to treat the growing number of patients.
Instead, Abe managed the abdication of Emperor Akihito, the first Japanese monarch to step down in two centuries in a more appropriate manner.
He succeeded his son, Emperor Naruhito, in October 2019, beginning the Reiwa era.
"Like the plum blossoms that bloom proudly in spring after the cold winter, we wish for the Japanese people to blossom as individual flowers with the (promise of) the future. With that wish for Japan, we decided on 'Reiwa,'" Abe said. announcing the new era.
Abe is survived by his wife Akie Abe, née Matsuzaki, whom he married in 1987. The couple had no children.
Shinzo Abe