John Foster Dulles had called on me in his capacity as Secretary of State, and he had exhausted every argument to persuade me to place Cambodia under the protection of the South East Asia Treaty Organization.

Norodom Sihanouk (Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហនុ; 31 October 1922 – 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. Prince Sisowath Thomico who was Sihanouk's assistant and nephew said "his death was a great loss to Cambodia" adding that Sihanouk had dedicated his life "for the sake of his entire nation country and for the Cambodian people. Leadership turmoil


Prime Minister

After World War II and into the early 1950s King Sihanouk's aspirations became much more nationalistic and he began demanding independence from the French colonists and their complete departure from Indochina.

These included two terms as king two as sovereign prince one as president two as prime minister as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile. After his second abdication in 2004 he was known as "The King-Father of Cambodia" (Khmer: Preahmâhaviraksat) a position in which he retained many of his former responsibilities as constitutional monarch.