John Atta-Mills

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John Atta-Mills
2nd Vice President of Ghana 4th Republic
In office January, 1997 – January 7, 2001
President	Jerry John Rawlings
Preceded by	Kow Nkensen Arkaah
Succeeded by	Alhaji Aliu Mahama

Born	July 21, 1944 Central Region, Ghana
Political party	National Democratic Congress
Spouse	Ernestina Naadu
Profession	Law Professor
Religion	Christian

Prof. John Evans Atta Mills (born July 21, 1944^[1]) is a Ghanaian politician and former vice-president who has twice ran unsuccessfully for president as the candidate of the National Democratic Congress.

Atta Mills completed Achimota Secondary School with an Advance Level Certificate in 1963. He graduated at the University of Ghana, in 1967 with bachelor's degree and professional certificate in Law. He also earned a doctorate in Oriental and African Studies from the University of London. He was selected as a Fulbright scholar at Stanford Law School in America. He later became a lecturer at the University of Ghana for twenty years.

In 1988, Atta Mills became the acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and later formally became Commissioner.^[2] In 1996, he was chosen as the running mate of Jerry Rawlings in that year's presidential election.^[1] On January 7, 1997, he became the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana.^[2]

He was defeated by John Kufuor in the 2000 presidential elections in Ghana. He was again defeated by Kufuor in the 2004 presidential election.

Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills was overwhelmingly elected as the Flag bearer of the NDC for the 2008 presidential elections with a 81% majority. He beat his opponents-Ekwow Spio-Garbah, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu and Eddie Annan by a landslide.