He was a leader of Yugoslavia from 1943 until his death in 1980. Tito was part of a resistance movement during World War II, and that helped him become President in 1953. He stayed there for 27 years.
What was remarkable about his tenure was his balancing act. He stayed as independent as possible, even though the rest of the region was almost completely under the thumb of the Soviet Union. Tito set the tone early on, when his independence caught the eye of Josef Stalin. The Soviet leader sent some assassins to kill Tito, but they failed. Tito send a message to Stalin at that point and essentially said, "You've sent several people to kill me but they did not succeed. But I only need to send one person to Moscow to assassinate you, because he will not fail." Stalin kept his distance from there.
As a result, Tito was one of the few people who managed to communicate with both the East and West during his time as leader. He also had a strong hand at keeping the various peoples of Yugoslavia more or less at peace, even though there were several rival groups who tended to get into fights if left to their own devices. Tito's methods were dictatorial, so that wasn't appreciated. But the ends justified the means for some.
After his death, Tito was buried in a room that had served as a place for work and rest. At that point, he was absolutely surrounded by flowers. That's where the name "House of Flowers" comes from. Once Yugoslavia broke apart and the office was closed, most of the flowers disappeared. But the place eventually was opened again to the public, but with white rocks replacing the flowers. Millions have come to pay their respects over the years.
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