Arnulfo Arias

Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid (August 15, 1901 – August 10, 1988) was a Panamanian politician, doctor, writer and President of Panama on three occasions: 1940-41, 1949-51, and for 11 days in October 1968.

His tenacious opposition to the military dictatorship that ruled Panama, coupled with the adversities that he suffered during his political career, which ranged from electoral fraud to three coups, made him into one of the most important and popular politicians in Panama, as well as an icon of Panamanian democracy.

Arnulfo Arias in The Hot War
Arnulfo Arias was the President of Panama during World War III. In April, 1951, the Soviet Union successfully detonated an atomic bomb in the Panama Canal. While the Canal Zone was U.S. territory, the country of Panama suffered directly from the attack.

U.S. President Harry Truman went to Panama in May, to meet with Arias and view the damage. Truman profusely apologized for America's failure to prevent the attack, which Arias essentially accepted. Arias was concerned by the tremendous damage the U.S. and the Soviet Union had done to one another, and wondered what Truman's long-term plans were. Truman assured Arias that the U.S. would keep going until the Soviet Union surrendered, an idea Arias seemed horrified by.