Henri Konan  Bédié is the former president of Côte d'Ivoire . He succeeded Félix Houphouët-Boigny after the president's death in Decemeber 1993.

Bédié's political career began in 1960. Following the independence of Côte d'Ivoire , he served as the first ambassador to the United States and Canada.

When he returned to Ivory Coast, he served as the Minister of Economy and Finance. He also served as the Chairman to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's joint Development Committee from 1974 to 1976. He  later was appointed as the Special Advisor to the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (1978-1980).

In 1980, Bédié was appointed to the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire . He was later elected as President of the National Assembly and served in this position in 1980, 1985 and 1990.

Bédié was overthrown from presidency by a military coup in 1999. He fled to Togo and later moved to France. Upon his return to Côte d'Ivoire in October 2001 he was gained party leadership of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire- African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA) Congress.

Bédié is currently a candidate in the 2010 Côte d'Ivoire presidental elections. The elections are set to take place on Oct.31st.

(Information found on pdcirda.org and wikipedia.com)