On July 25, 1997 he was sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalit caste to hold that office.
K.R.Narayanan was born in the village of Uzhavoor in Kottayam district of Kerala. He obtained his M.A. degree in English from the University of Travancore, standing first in the university. He then obtained his B.Sc.(Economics) degree with a specialization in Political Science, from London School of Economics with First Class Honours.
He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1949 and served in various embassies in Asia and in London.He was very close to Mr.Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.
He later entered politics and won three successive Lok Sabha General Elections from the constituency of Ottapalam in Kerala. He was a Member of Parliament and a minister in the Union cabinet. He was elected as the Vice-President of India on August 21, 1992.