Manuel L. Quezon
During his presidency, Quezón tackled the problem of landless peasants in the countryside. He also reorganized the islands's military defenses, planned to reorganize the government, promotion of settlement and development in Mindanao, tried to end foreign control over Philippine trade and commerce, proposals for land reform and the tackling of graft and corruption within the government. Quezón set up a government-in-exile in the US when World War II started and the Philippines were threatened with a Japanese invasion. During his exile in the US, Manuel Quezón died of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York.