José Eduardo dos Santos (born August 28, 1942) is the current President of Angola, having served in that position since 1979. He is also the President of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

Eduardo dos Santos was born in Luanda. Eduardo's father was a construction worker from São Tomé and Príncipe. While he was studying in school, he joined the MPLA in 1956 thereby starting his political career. Due to the repression of the colonial government, Eduardo dos Santos went into self-exile in France in 1961. He later moved to the Republic of the Congo. From there he collaborated with the MPLA, and soon became the vice-president. To continue with his education, he moved, once again, to the USSR, where he received an engineering degree from the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In 1970 he returned to Angola and joined the EPLA (Exército Popular de Libertação de Angola), a branch of the MPLA, becoming a radio transmitter in the second political-military region of the MPLA. In 1974, he was promoted to sub commander of the telecoms service of the second region. He served as the MPLA's representative to Yugoslavia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the People's Republic of China before being elected to the Central Committee and Politburo of the MPLA in September 1974.