Goh Chock Tong was born on May 20, 1941 in Pasir Panjang in Singapore. In 1990, he succeeded Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister of Singapore – becoming the second Prime Minister in Singapore's history.
He was educated at Raffles Institute in Singapore from 1955 to 1960, and from 1961 to 1964 he studied at the University of Singapore, emerging with a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honors in Economics. From 1966 till 1967 he studied at Williams College in the USA, leaving with a Master of Arts in Development Economics.
He became a member of parliament in 1976, for the Marine Parade constituency. From 1979 to 1990 he held various positions as Minister for Trade and Industry, Minister for Health, Minister for Defence as well as Senior Minister of State for Finance.
In 1985 he became Singapore's first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense. In 1990 he became Singapore's second Prime Minister, a position he held until August 2004 when he handed the position over to Lee Hsien Loong.
He now holds the position of Senior Minister, the position held by Lee Kuan Yew since he stepped down in 1990. Lee Kuan Yew now holds the position of Minister Mentor.