Jerry John Rawlings (born 1947) is a longtime Ghanaian politician who served as the country's president twice. He has been called a "benevolent dictator."

Initially during his time in office, he committed his government to populist reforms such as socialist economics and anti-corruption measures. Rawlings was a member of the Ghanian military with the rank of flight lieutenant. He came to power for the first time after a bloody military coup on June 4 1979. Shortly after that coup, the former military dictators Acheampong, Afrifa and Akuffo were executed for various abuses during their respective terms. After about 4 months in office, Rawlings' junta handed power to the democratically-elected Hilla Limann.

After his second coup on December 31 1981 his policies became more centrist, as he began to advocate free-market reforms. However, despite the country's relative economic success, the Ghanaian government was criticized abroad for committing numerous abuses of human rights. Rawlings was re-elected in 1992 and 1996 in somewhat free and fair elections. He retired in 2001 and was succeeded by John Kufuor, his main opponent in the 1996 election who defeated Rawlings's vice-president John Atta-Mills in 2000 and 2004.