This article attempts to explore some Korean American writers' views of Syngman Rhee, the first President of the Republic of Korea, whose presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains very controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. On the one hand, Rhee has been regarded positively as an anti-Communist who led South Korea through the Korean War. One the other hand, Rhee has been criticized as a totalitarian strongman who suppressed mercilessly any political opponents. Korean American writers in general and Korean American immigrant autobiographers in particular have had negative views of Syngman Rhee. For example, Younghill Kang, Lanhei Kim, Peter Hyun, and Margaret K. Lee, who are liberals, tend to be very critical of Rhee. They see his regime as authoritarian, corrupt and inefficient. In their opinion, Rhee's inability to work with others, as well as his lack of concern or understanding for economics, retarded the progress that the people expected. In addition, Rhee allowed either wittingly or unwittingly his supporters to resort increasingly to coercion and fraud to keep him in power, thus losing for him much of his deserved place in history. Only Mary Paik Lee and Induk Pahk, among others, regard Rhee as the patriarch of the nation who contributed toward paving the way for the democratization of Korea.