    kocheril raman narayanan (; 27 october 1920 â 9 november 2005) was the tenth president of india. born in perumthanam, uzhavoor village, in the princely state of travancore (present day kottayam district, kerala), and after a brief stint with journalism and then studying political science at the london school of economics with the assistance of a scholarship, narayanan began his career in india as a member of the indian foreign service in the nehru administration. he served as ambassador to japan, united kingdom, thailand, turkey, people's republic of china and united states of america and was referred to by nehru as "the best diplomat of the country".manmohan singh: condolence message. retrieved 24 february 2006. he entered politics at indira gandhi's request and won three successive general elections to the lok sabha and served as a minister of state in the union cabinet under former prime minister rajiv gandhi. elected as the ninth vice president in 1992, narayanan went on to become president in 1997. he was the first - and, so far, only - member of the dalit community, to hold the post. narayanan is regarded as an independent and assertive president who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of the highest constitutional office. he described himself as a "working president" who worked "within the four corners of the constitution"; something midway between an "executive president" who has direct power and a "rubber-stamp president" who endorses government decisions without question or 
10th_Lok_Sabha_members 1920_births 2005_deaths 8th_Lok_Sabha_members 9th_Lok_Sabha_members Alumni_of_the_London_School_of_Economics Ambassadors_of_India_to_China Ambassadors_of_India_to_the_United_States Indian_Foreign_Service_officers Indian_National_Congress_politicians_from_Kerala Lok_Sabha_members_from_Kerala Malayali_people Malayali_politicians People_from_Kerala People_from_Kottayam Presidents_of_India Vice-Presidents_of_India