[3] After Kérékou attended French military schools from 1968 to 1970,[3] Maga made him a major, deputy chief of staff, and commander of the Ouidah paratroop unit.

[5] During his first two years in power, Kérékou expressed only nationalism and said that the country's revolution would not "burden itself by copying foreign ideology ... We do not want communism or capitalism or socialism.

[9]Its relations with France and other African governments in the region deteriorated because of the Marxism claimed by the Beninese regime and the support offered to the Polisario Front for the liberation of Western Sahara.

The French government of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing feared the spread of Marxism in West Africa and decided to react.

[5] He also accepted an IMF structural readjustment program in 1989, agreeing to austerity measures that severely cut state expenditure.

[8] In the period of reforms towards multiparty democracy in Africa at the beginning of the 1990s, Benin moved onto this path early, with Kérékou being forced to make concessions to popular discontent.

Benin's early and relatively smooth transition may be attributed to the particularly dismal economic situation in the country, which seemed to preclude any alternative.

An observer described it as a "remarkable piece of political theater", full of cultural symbolism and significance; in effect, Kérékou was seeking forgiveness from his people.

"[9] World Bank economist Nicéphore Soglo, chosen as prime minister by the conference, took office in March, and a new constitution was approved in a December 1990 referendum.

[7] After losing the election in March 1991, Kérékou left the political scene and "withdrew to total silence", another move that was interpreted as penitential.

[17] When taking the oath of office, Kérékou left out a portion that referred to the "spirits of the ancestors" because he had become a born-again Christian after his defeat by Soglo.

Yayi Boni defeated Adrien Houngbédji in a run-off vote on 19 March,[14] and Kérékou left office at the end of his term, at midnight on 6 April 2006.

[21] Born and baptized in the Roman Catholic faith, although he was a lapsed adherent, Kérékou allegedly converted to Islam in 1980 while on a visit to Libya, and changed his first name to Ahmed,[24][25] but he later returned to the use of the name Mathieu.

[27][28] Some Vodun believers in Benin regarded him as having magical powers, explaining his ability to survive repeated coup attempts during his military rule.

Unlike some past rulers who had adopted animal symbolism intending to project a violent, warlike sense of power, Kérékou's symbolic animal suggested skill and cleverness; his motto suggested that he would keep the branch from breaking, but implicitly warned of what could happen to "the branch" if it was not "in the arms of the chameleon"—political chaos.

"[30] After leaving office in 2006, Kérékou stayed out of politics and spent time at his homes in Cotonou and Natitingou in northwestern Benin, his native region.