Blaise Compaoré (born February 3, 1951) is a former President of Burkina Faso. He served from 1987 until his resignation in 2014. He started a political party called the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). This is the ruling party of Burkina Faso. Compaoré became president in 1987 after a military coup and the assassination of Thomas Sankara, who was president then.