Cliff Drysdale
The second President of Burma who navigated the fragile early years of independence with judicial balance.
Born 1941 (age 85)·South African tennis player·Birthday: May 26·The Silent Generation
Biography
Ba U, a man steeped in the law, provided a steadying hand for the Union of Burma during its tumultuous first decade. Educated at Cambridge and called to the English bar, he served as a High Court judge under British rule and later as the first Chief Justice of the Union. His judicial temperament defined his presidency from 1952 to 1957, a period marked by internal communist and ethnic insurgencies. As a constitutional head of state in a parliamentary system, Ba U exercised his role with careful propriety, acting as a symbol of unity above the political fray led by Prime Minister U Nu. His presidency was less about executive action and more about embodying the stability and sovereignty of the nascent republic, using his legal authority to certify laws and appointments with scrupulous attention to the new nation's founding document.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Cliff was born in 1941, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Cliff Was Born
The biggest hits of 1941
#1 Movie
Sergeant York
Best Picture
How Green Was My Valley
Cliff's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1941Born
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
1946Started school
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1954Became a teenager
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1957Could drive
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1959Could vote
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Turned 21
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1971Turned 30
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1981Turned 40
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1991Turned 50
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2001Turned 60
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2011Turned 70
Osama bin Laden killed; Arab Spring sweeps the Middle East
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $138,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Rolling in the Deep" — AdeleBest Picture: The Artist
2021Turned 80
January 6 Capitol breach; COVID vaccines roll out globally
Gas: $3.01/galHome: $298,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Levitating" — Dua LipaBest Picture: CODA
2026Age 85 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as the first Chief Justice of the Union of Burma after independence in 1948.
- Was the second President of the Union of Burma, holding office from 1952 to 1957.
- Presided over the nation during a critical period of post-colonial consolidation and internal conflict.
- Authored a two-volume memoir, "My Burma," providing a personal account of the country's transition.
Did You Know?
He was one of the first Burmese nationals to be appointed as a High Court judge during the British colonial era.
His presidential tenure saw the historic 1955 visit of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai to Burma.
Ba U was a keen horseman in his youth and maintained a lifelong interest in equestrian affairs.
He survived an assassination attempt by political radicals in 1947, the same year Aung San was killed.
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