(May 24, 1999) President Suharto opened his 1989 autobiography with memories of his simple childhood bathing in muddy canals in Java. “My roots are in the village,” he wrote. From the start of his dictatorship in 1966, Suharto carefully cultivated an image not just of humble origins but of lifelong simplicity. He claimed to be a common farm boy with common values, who rose without ambition to a position of dominance over one of the largest countries in the world, and who ruled in the best interests of the nation.