Born on June 22, 1947, the former president became arguably Ghana's charismatic political leader after Kwame Nkrumah.
He was a former military leader and subsequent politician who ruled the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979.
He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana.
Rawlings initially came to power as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup d’etat in 1979.
Prior to that, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government on 15 May 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on 31 December 1981 as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
In 1992, Rawlings resigned from the military founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first President of the Fourth Republic.
He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years.
After two terms in office, the limit according to the constitution Rawlings stepped aside and endorsed his vice-president the late John Atta Evans Atta Mills as a presidential candidate in 2000.
Pulse.com.gh presents 7 memorable photos of the late Jerry John Rawlings. He passed at age 73.
May his soul rest in perfect peace.