Ismail Abdul Rahman - Deputy Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

In 1970, he was appointed as the second Deputy Prime Minister, replacing Tun Abdul Razak, who had been elevated to Prime Minister following the resignation of Tunku Abdul Rahman. Shortly before, Ismail had become privy to the secret that Abdul Razak was suffering from leukaemia. Only Razak's doctors, Razak and Ismail knew of Razak's health problems, with Razak often using the pretext of paying Ismail a visit at his home in order to be examined by doctors at a hidden building near Ismail's house. Not long after, Ismail himself discovered a lump in his neck while shaving — the lump was later confirmed to be cancerous. As a result, many within Ismail's family urged him to retire again. However, Ismail considered it his duty to assist Abdul Razak as Deputy Prime Minister, and thus refused to resign, delaying the treatment for his neck cancer and refusing an operation on his heart valves in order to continue working.

Around July 1973, Ismail suffered three heart attacks over the course of two weeks — a secret he kept from his wife, who was expecting. Ismail told a friend that he planned to resign after Tun Abdul Razak returned from Ottawa in Canada, where he was attending the Commonwealth summit — Ismail had promised to serve as acting Prime Minister while Razak was away. Ismail was also reportedly worried about Razak's political plans, as he intended to rehabilitate Mahathir — a move opposed by Ismail, who preferred Musa Hitam to Mahathir.