He is married to Alma - a Lithuanian American, who retains her U.S. citizenship in spite of her husband's being a Head of State in that European nation.

Early Life

His story is a success story - born in Lithuania, as a young man Adamkus joined the underground against both the Soviets and the Nazis. In 1948, he won the Gold and Silver Medals in track and field during the 1948 Olympic Games of the Enslaved Nations . He attended the University of Munich in Germany before emigrating to the United States in 1949. Fluent in five languages, in the 1950s he served as senior NCO with the 5th Army Reserve Military Intelligence.

Adamkus graduated as a civil engineer from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1960.

In 1970 Mr. Adamkus rose to a high position in the U.S. Government.

Career with EPA

Adamkus joined the United States Environmental Protection Agency on its inception in 1970 and was appointed regional administrator by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. He was responsible for all Federal air, water, hazardous waste, and other pollution control programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In 1985, President Reagan presented him the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award -- the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a civil servant. He served as regional administrator for 16 years and retired in 1997 after 29 years of federal service. He was a member of the Republican Party.

Lithuanian Presidency

Shortly after leaving the EPA, Adamkus moved back to Lithuania. Soon after his decision to run for a President, he had to face a legal battle in a Lithuanian court, because some authorities questioned Mr. Adamkus' ability to run for a President, because, they believed, he did not meet minimum residency requirements due to a long time of absence that he has spent abroad. However the court ruled in Mr. Adamkus favour and no other obstacles remained, except his U.S. citizenship, which he officially renounced in the American Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania - a move, which enabled him to register his name on the candidates' list for the Presidential campaign. He was elected as President of Lithuania in 1998. He served as President from 1998 until 2003, when he ran for re-election but, quite unexpectedly, was defeated by Rolandas Paksas. He came back to politics as miraculously as he has left - after the Presidential scandal of 2003/2004, when his former rival Paksas was impeached, thus becoming the first Head of State to ever be impeached in Europe, and later removed from office, Mr. Adamkus ran for the office again, and this time he was successful. The first round of that election was held on June 13, 2004, with Adamkus securing 30% of the vote - more than any other contender (it is noteworthy, that Paksas also wanted to run for the President's office again - just after he had been dismissed from the office through a parliamentary vote - however the ruling of Lithuania's Constitutional Court disallowed him from running for a public office for 5 years and, therefore, he was unable to register as a candidate in 2004's Presidential campaign. The Chief Justice of Lithuania's Constitutional Court commented, that in the U.S, an impeached person would not be able to even occupy a position of the Deputy Chief of the Post Office, not to mention President.). A runoff was held on June 27, 2004 and Adamkus won with about 52% of the votes. Since the 12 July, 2004 he again serves as the President of the Republic of Lithuania.

Related Link

• List of Presidents of Lithuania