During the U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II, Kishi
was detained as a suspected "Class-A" war criminal from 1945 to
1948. Ultimately acquitted by the Tokyo Tribunal, he was banned
from public life until 1952, when he joined the anti–Yoshida
Shigeru faction and became secretary-general of the Democratic
Party. Kishi was largely responsible for uniting all of Japan's
conservative parties into the powerful Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) in 1955 and served as the first head of the LDP. When
ailing Prime Minister Ishibashi Tanzan resigned in 1957, Kishi
assumed the post of prime minister. His first cabinet lasted
only until 1958, but he quickly assembled a second cabinet that
same year, which lasted until 1960. As prime minister, Kishi
authorized war reparations to Indonesia and authorized the
implementation of the Japanese National Defense Plan to fortify
Japanese defensive capabilities. He also traveled to the United
States in 1957 to talk with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Most
notably, Kishi sought