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Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石 in pinyin: jiang3 jie4 shi2) (Jiang Jieshi) (1887-1975), also known in short as "Gimo", was the leader of the Nationalist Party of the Republic of China, known as the Kuomintang (KMT). A disciple and brother-in-law of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang and his wife Soong May-ling were nominal Methodists, a fact that would have enormous repercussions on the US China policy during World War II and beyond in part due to publicity generated by the publisher of Time Magazine Henry Luce, himself a child of missionaries in China.
After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang was able to take control of the Kuomintang by his political tactics. In 1927, Chiang led the Northern Expedition whose aim was to unify China under the control of the Kuomintang.
Chiang's strategy during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) (a theatre of World War II) opposed the strategies of both Mao Zedong and the United States. The US regarded Chiang as an important ally able to help shorten the war by engaging the Japanese occupiers in China. Chiang, in contrast, used powerful associates such as H. H. Kung in Hong Kong to build the ROC army for certain conflict with the communist forces after the end of WW2. This fact was not understood well in the US. The US liaison officer, General Joseph Stilwell, eventually deduced that Chiang was going to let the US save him from fighting Japan, but was not able to influence US policy. (As a side note, Stilwell's frustration is apparent in his diaries. In them, he calls Chiang "peanut head" on a regular basis.)
After losing the Chinese Civil War, Chiang moved his government to Taiwan where he became President of the ROC on May 20, 1954 and in this position continued to claim sovereignty over all of China. He died there in 1975 and was succeeded as President by Vice-President Yen Chia-jin. However, real power passed to his son Chiang Ching-Kuo who was Premier and became President shortly afterwords.
Unlike his son Chiang Ching-Kuo, Chiang Kai-Shek remains a largely unpopular figure on Taiwan because of his authoritarian rule of the island. Since the 1990s, his picture has tended to disappear from public buildings, coins, and money, and in sharp contrast to Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Ching-Kuo, his memory is rarely invoked by current political parties, including the Kuomintang.
See also: President of the Republic of China