Mei-ling Soong, the fourth of six children born to Charlie Soong, a Methodist minister who amassed a fortune in commercial publishing, attended college in the United States, earning a degree in English Literature in 1917.
She followed in the footsteps of her well-established sisters, Ai-ling Soong, who married wealthy banker H.H. Kung, and Ching-Ling Soong, who became the wife of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, by marrying Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in 1927.
The Soong family fortune played a significant role in the Chinese revolt against the Manchu dynasty and was instrumental in financing the Nationalist revolution.
Throughout World War II, Madame Chiang served as her husband's translator and secretary, and he greatly benefited from her political acumen.
As a fluent speaker of both English and Chinese, she was a consummate politician, and even her husband's enemies admired her for being sweet, reasonable, and sympathetic.
Madame Chiang traveled extensively to unify China, and her speeches were attended by up to 30,000 people. She twice made the cover of Time magazine and was the model for the Dragon Lady, a character in a popular comic strip by Milton Caniff.
Her good looks and Western demeanor emphasized the similarities between the two cultures, and her celebrity status was considered a key element in winning funds, airplanes, and weapons from the Allies to aid China's fight against the Japanese.
Madame Chiang addressed Congress in 1943, becoming only the second woman and the first Chinese person to do so, and received a 4-minute standing ovation.
An accomplished artist and author of four books, she remained at the forefront of the fight against Communism until the Nationalist retreat to Taiwan.
While exiled in Taiwan from 1949 to 1975, she was still considered one of the most politically important women in the world and continued her crusade for aid to China.
After the generalissimo's death, Madame Chiang moved back to the United States, where she spent the rest of her life in New York City, making occasional appearances and exhibiting her paintings, until death overtook her at the age of 105.
