He was one of those few Muslims who by virtue of his service to the country under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi reached the pinnacle of honour as … - Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

A son of a "kazi", he was elected to the highest office, which he, or any member of the family could ever think of these pleasant incident is the proof, that destiny has a great role to play in one’s life.

After a term in the national Parliament, he returned to Assam politics until Prime Minister Indira Gandhi included him in her first cabinet in January 1966. He held a variety of portfolios—irrigation and power, education, industrial development, and agriculture. Ahmed became India’s fifth president in 1974.

He was a close friend of Zakir Husain, the third President of India. It was a coincidence and a tribute to their friendship that both occupied the highest position of the land, died in harness of heart failure and collapsed in the same bathroom of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.