Zhang Zuolin (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhng Zuln; WadeGiles: Chang Tso-lin; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928, and the military dictator of the Republic of China in 1927 and 1928, he rose from banditry to power and influence.

Backed by Japan, Zhang successfully influenced politics in the Republic of China during the early 1920s. In fall of 1924 during the Second ZhiliFengtian War, he invaded and gained control of Peking, including the internationally recognized government, in April 1926. His appointment as grand marshal of the Republic of China in June 1927 represented the height of his success, but was quickly followed by defeat: the economy of Manchuria, the basis of his power, was overtaxed by his adventurism and collapsed in the winter of 1927; and he was defeated by the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in May 1928. Leaving Beijing in early June to return to Manchuria, he was killed by a bomb planted by infuriated Kwantung Army officers on June 4, 1928; his brief reign presaged the end of Chinese warlordism by December.

His assassination by members of the Japanese Kwantung Army made way for the eventual invasion of Manchuria.

The president of the Republic of China, usually referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces.

Originally elected by the National Assembly, the presidency was intended to be a ceremonial office with no real executive power as the ROC was originally envisioned as a parliamentary republic. Since the 1996 presidential election, the president is directly elected by plurality voting to a four-year term, with incumbents limited to serving two terms. The incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen, succeeded Ma Ying-jeou on May 20, 2016, to become the first female president in the history of Taiwan.