of Bechuanaland 1965 and President of Botswana (1966–80). An heir to the chieftainship of the ruling tribe in Bechuanaland, he was banished because of opposition to his marriage to an Englishwoman in 1948. He returned with his wife in 1956 and formed the Democratic Party in 1962, leading the party to a landslide victory in the elections of 1965; he became Botswana’s first President the following year. A strong believer in multiracial democracy, he achieved nationwide free education.