Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born 27 October 1945), known simply as
Lula, is a Brazilian politician who served as
President of Brazil from 1 January 2003 to 1 January 2011. He is a founding member of the
Workers' Party (PT –
Partido dos Trabalhadores) and ran for president three times unsuccessfully, first in the
1989 election, then again in
1994 and
1998. Lula achieved victory in the
2002 election, and was inaugurated as president on 1 January 2003. In the
2006 election he was elected for a second term as president, which ended on 1 January 2011. Succeeded by his former
Chief of Staff,
Dilma Rousseff, he left an enduring mark on Brazilian politics in the form of
Lulism.