Assignment #1 leaders

Mexico, President Enrique Peña Nieto:
He married Mónica Pretelini in 1993. When she died he remarried telenovelas star Angelica Rivera. Peña Nieto joined the PRI. He became active in México state politics. He held positions as the secretary of administration and state congressman. He has often been compared to American politician John Edwards (and not in a good way). 

China, President Xi Jinping:
When Xi was 10, his father was purged and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang, Henan. May 1966, Xi's secondary education was cut short by the Cultural Revolution. Xi was 15 when his father was jailed in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution.

India, President Pranab Mukherjee:
Pranab was educated at the Suri Vidyasagar College, and he later earned an advanced degree in history and political science as well as a law degree from the university. In 1963 he accepted a teaching position at a small college near Calcutta that was associated with the university. He also became editor of a Bengali-language monthly periodical and, later, worked for a weekly publication.

Brazil, President Bashar al-Assad:
Assad graduated from the medical school of Damascus University in 1988, and started to work as a physician in the army. Bashar was quiet and reserved and says that he lacked interest in politics or the military he was said to have been bullied by his older brother Bassel.

Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff:
She became a socialists during her youth, and following the 1964 coup d'etat joined various left-wing and Marxist Urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. Rousseff was eventually captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972, where she was reportedly tortured.

France, President François Hollande:
He attended Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle boarding school, a private Catholic school in Rouen, then HEC Paris, the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies), and the École nationale d'administration. He graduated from ENA in 1980 and chose to enter the prestigious Cour des comptes. He lived in the United States in the summer of 1974 while he was a university student. Immediately after graduating, he was employed as a councillor in the Court of Audit.

Russia, President Vladimir Putin:
He attended School No. 193 at Baskov Lane, just across from his house. By 11 years old he was one of a few in a class of more than 45 pupils who was not yet a member of the Pioneers. During that time, Putin was assigned to Directorate S, the illegal intelligence-gathering unit. Many of Putin's actions are regarded by the domestic opposition and foreign observers as undemocratic.

Germany, President Joachim Gauck:
Joachim Gauck was born into a family of sailors in Rostock. He graduated with an Abitur from Innerstädtisches Gymnasium in Rostock. He wanted to study German and become a journalist, but because he wasn't a communist, he wasn't allowed to do so. Instead he chose to study theology and become a pastor in the Protestant church in Mecklenburg.

Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu:
He joined the Israeli military in 1967, moving into the special operations force that rescued a hijacked airplane at the Tel Aviv airport in 1972. He spent most of his teen years living in the Philadelphia area, where his father, noted Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, worked as a professor.

United Kingdom, President David William Donald Cameron:
From the age of seven, Cameron was educated at two independent schools: at Heatherdown School in Winkfield in Berkshire. His early interest was in art. Six weeks before taking his O-Levels he was caught smoking cannabis. He admitted the offence and had not been involved in selling drugs, so he was not expelled, but was fined, prevented from leaving school grounds, and given a "Georgic"

Japan, President Shinzo Abe:
He attended Seikei Elementary School, Seikei Junior High School and Seikei Senior High School. He studied political science at Seikei University, graduating in 1977. He later moved to the United States and studied public policy at the University of Southern California's School of Public Policy.