A Washington Welcome - Apart from winning the presidency, one of Aquino's sweeter triumphs was her reception in Washington in Sept. 1986, where she was greeted at the White House by Ronald Reagan, the friend of her old nemesis. Her speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress was widely praised and interrupted numerous times by applause.
Madame President - On Feb. 25, even as Marcos appeared to be adamant about remaining president, Aquino was sworn in by a justice of the Supreme Court as the first woman to lead the Philippines. In Washington, meanwhile, seeing the populace turn against his friend, Reagan called Marcos and convinced him to leave the Philippines for exile in Hawaii. The man who had ruled the Philippines for two decades said farewell to his loyalists as his wife Imelda sang a final song. Then they took off for American territory on U.S. Helicopters.
The Yellow Tide - Aquino turned yellow into the color of her campaign. It was, personally, one of her favorite hues; but its political significance stemmed from the yellow ribbons tied around Manila's trees and posts (inspired by an American pop song) by the supporters of her husband to welcome him on what proved to be his tragic return home. Her rallies were seas of yellow.
The Martyr's Wife - With Benigno Aquino's political star rising, Marcos assumed dictatorial powers in 1972 and imprisoned his archrival. Under international pressure, Aquino was eventually allowed to leave the country with his wife and children for exile in Boston. In 1983, however, he chose to return to the Philippines to try to offer himself as a political alternative to an ailing Marcos. The regime warned it could not guarantee his safety; but Aquino flew back anyway and was assassinated allegedly by a lone gunman while being escorted off his plane by Philippine soldiers. Corazon Aquino flew home for his funeral.
A Life of Privilege - She was born Corazon Cojuangco, an heiress to one of the great fortunes in the Philippines. In 1954, she married Benigno Aquino, one of the most ambitious and promising politicians in the country. Before they met, however, Benigno had dated a young beauty queen named Imelda Romualdez. Years later, his political career would turn him into the political nemesis of the man Imelda married, Ferdinand Marcos, who was elected president in 1965.
Champion of Democracy - TIME chose Corazon Aquino as its Person of the Year for 1986, recognizing her central role in one of the most compelling dramas in recent history — the widowed housewife who avenges her husband's death by overthrowing the regime widely blamed for his murder. In February 1986, Aquino rose to the presidency of the Philippines after a popular uprising that forced Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos from power. She was the first woman to be designated TIME's Person of the Year since Queen Elizabeth II for 1952.
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