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Even before there was an Israel, Shimon Peres was involved in the future state's leadership. At 29, he became the director general of the fledgling country's Ministry of Defense.

When he retired from politics in 2014, after seven years as president, Israel's ceremonial head of state, he was just days short of his 91st birthday.

In between, he'd held various roles, including minister of transportation, finance, defense and foreign affairs, as well as prime minister.

In 1994, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and then–Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin, whom he would succeed after Rabin's assassination on November 4, 1995. Though not uncontroversial (some disliked him for his role in establishing early settlements, others for his later peacemaking efforts), Peres became an iconic figure in Israeli government, both at home and abroad.

After his "retirement," the nonagenarian released a video in whi