At a Christmas party at Sun Yat-sen’s residence in 1921, Chiang met Song Meiling, the younger sister of Sun’s wife Song Qingling, and fell in love. Chiang’s weren’t welcomed at first by the Song family, but he persisted, and after converting to Christianity, received the family’s blessing to marry Meiling in 1927. Chiang later brought his Harvard-educated brother-in-law, T.V. Song into the Nationalist political fold, putting him in charge of desperately needed investments in infrastructure.

Chiang Kai-shek and his bride, Song Meiling