of personal respect and held few powers since the KMT wanted to avoid a repeat of Chiang's rule. He never used the Presidential Palace, which Chiang continued to reside in, and preferred his modest rented house near the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. Chiang's influence was virtually restored after the Battle of Shanghai (1932) as party grandees realized his necessity. Shortly after acceding to the chairmanship, Lin Sen embarked on an extended trip that took him to the Philippines, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. He visited the Chinese diaspora and the Kuomintang party organisations in those countries. This was the first overseas visit by a serving head of state of China. In 1934 TIME magazine called him "puppet President Lin", and when there was a talk by Military chief Chiang Kai-shek at a "Secret conference of government leaders" of granting the President of China actual powers, insinuating that Chiang was entertaining the thought of taking the Presidency himself, since Chiang held the actual power while Lin's position was described as "figurehead class". Though he had little influence on public policy, Lin was highly respected by the public as an august elder statesman who was above politics. His lack of political ambition, corruption, and nepotism was an exceedingly rare trait. He lent dignity and stability to an office while other state institutions were in chaos. A widower, Lin used his position to promote monogamy and combat concubinage which became a punishable felony in 1935. He also called for a peaceful resolution when Chiang was kidnapped during the Xi'an Incident. National unity was something he stressed as relations with Japan deteriorated further. When the Second Sino-Japanese War entered full swing in 1937, he moved to the wartime capital of Chongqing. He legalized civilian use of guerrilla warfare, but this was just a formality as it was already a widespread practice. He spurned all offers to defect and collaborate with the Japanese puppet government. Death On 10 March 1943, his car was involved in an accident. Two days later, he had a stroke while meeting the Canadian delegation. As he was in hospice, he urged the recovery of Taiwan be included in the post-war settlement; it became part of the Cairo Declaration months later. He died on August 1 at the age of 76 and a month of mourning was declared. He was the longest serving head of state in