Terauchi Masatake
In 1918, Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake fell from office due to the Rice Riots of 1918, and Hara was appointed as his successor on 28 September. It was the first cabinet headed by a commoner. Also, Hara was the first civilian in Japanese history to become the administrative chief of any of the armed services, when he temporarily took charge of the Navy Ministry, in absence of the Navy Minister, Admiral Katō Tomosaburō, who was serving as the Japanese representative at the Washington Naval Conference.