Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE was a Botswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to 1980.
Born into an influential royal family of what was then the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland, he was educated abroad in neighbouring South Africa and in the United Kingdom. He married a British woman, Ruth Williams, which as a union between a black man and a white woman was controversial, particularly with the National Party government in South Africa as well as among the British and the Bangwato. Khama led his country's independence movement.
He founded the Botswana Democratic Party in 1962 and became Prime Minister in 1965. In 1966, Botswana gained independence and Khama was elected as its first president. During his presidency, the country underwent rapid economic and social progress.