Charles Haughey

Charles James Haughey (/ˈhɔːhi/; HAW-hee 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992. He served as cabinet minister in various portfolios from 1964 until his dismissal during the Arms Crisis in 1970, and again from 1977 to 1979. He was leader of Fianna Fáil from 1979 to 1992. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1957 to 1992.

Haughey was the dominant Irish politician of his generation, as well as the most controversial. Upon entering government in the early 1960s, Haughey became the symbol of a new vanguard of Irish ministers. As taoiseach, he is credited by some economists with starting the positive transformation of the economy in the late 1980s. However, his career was also marked by several major scandals. Haughey was implicated in the Arms Crisis of 1970, which nearly destroyed his career. His political reputation revived, his tenure as Taoiseach was then damaged by the sensational GUBU Affair in 1982; his party leadership was challenged four times, each time unsuccessfully, earning Haughey the nickname "The Great Houdini". Revelations about his role in a phone tapping scandal led him to resign as Taoiseach and retire from politics in 1992.

After Haughey's retirement, further revelations of political corruption, embezzlement, tax evasion and a 27-year extra-marital affair further tarnished his reputation and legacy in the eyes of some. He died of prostate cancer in 2006, aged 80.