Aidan Bair (Napoleon's World)

Aidan McManus Bair (July 19, 1885 - August 30, 1974) was an Irish politician best known for serving as the __ President of Ireland from 1948 until 1957, a period of nine years in which the Irish economy grew modestly and Ireland became entangled in the English Anarchy, and lost control of Irish East Africa. A Christian Democrat, Bair was one of the leaders of the political Great Movement, and an ardent supporter of an increased role for the Catholic Church in the Irish government. Sweeping into power with a wave of populist support, his popularity declined steadily over his years in office, so that he barely survived the 1952 election and was ousted five years later by the young, popular Labour candidate Michael O'Shay. Bair is often regarded as one of Ireland's more mediocre Presidents, although the stability of his reign is looked fondly upon in comparison to the upheavals between the late 1960's through the mid-1980's.