Gojko Šušak

Gojko Šušak (Croatian pronunciation: [gȏːjko ʃûʃak]; 16 March 1945 – 3 May 1998) was a Croatian politician who held the post of Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998 under President Franjo Tuđman. From 1990 to 1991 he was the Minister of Emigration and in 1991 the Deputy Minister of Defence.

Born in Široki Brijeg, he attended the University of Rijeka in 1963. In 1969 Šušak emigrated to Canada where he worked in the restaurant and construction business and rose to prominence within the Croatian diaspora in North America in the following decades. In the late 1980s he became a close friend and associate to Franjo Tuđman, leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party seeking Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia.

In 1990, he returned to Croatia. After Tuđman became president following the 1990 parliamentary election, Šušak was named Minister of Emigration and helped gather economic aid from Croatian emigrants. From early 1991 he was the Deputy Minister of Defence. In September 1991 he was appointed Minister of Defence, an office he held throughout the Croatian War of Independence. As minister, Šušak reorganized and modernized the Croatian Army, leading it to a status of a regional power. He contributed to the planning of key military operations, particularly Operation Storm in 1995 that effectively ended the war in Croatia. He supported the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the 1992–94 Croat–Bosniak War and later helped broker the 1995 Dayton Agreement. During his term in office he forged close contacts with the United States Department of Defense. Šušak's tenure as Defence Minister is the longest in Croatian history and lasted until his death in 1998.