The mandarin-speaking son of a Queensland dairy farmer, Kevin Rudd goes down as one of the most popular prime ministers in Australia's history, but also one of the most controversial.
From soaring popularity to losing the prime ministership at the hands of his own party, Mr Rudd presided over one of the most tumultuous periods in Australian political history.
His career has been been tied to the Australian Labor Party ever since he joined as an idealistic 15-year-old in 1972, and has been characterised by determination, an incredible capacity for hard work, and an iron-clad belief in himself.
These qualities saw him ride a wave of popular opinion and anti-Howard sentiment to a landslide victory in 2007, but also sewed the seeds for the tumultuous events that would overshadow his time in politics.
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After stints as a diplomat and consultant in China, and a period working alongside future treasurer Wayne Swan as a senior official in the Queensland Goss government, Mr Rudd first ran for the Federal seat of Griffith in 1996.
He was unsuccessful, but two years later he secured the seat, and has remained as a popular local member since.
Challenge for Labor leadership
In 2006 he successfully challenged Kim Beazely for leadership of the Labor party, which at the time was reeling for a series of electoral defeats at the hands of John Howard.
After sitting out ballots for the Labor leadership during the tenures of Crean, Kim Beazley and Mark Latham, Mr Rudd assumed the position in December 2006 with Ms Gillard as his deputy.
Despite his long association with the ALP, Mr Rudd has always remained something of an outsider, and never gained the loyalty of the factions that form the DNA of the Labor party.
This outsider status was on display during the Kevin07 campaign, where he campaigned heavily on his own image - summed up with the line 'I'm Kevin, I'm from Queensland, and I'm here to help'.
It was this campaign that saw the first emergence of his love affair with the Australian people, a relationship that has confounded pundits and frustrated rivals on both sides of politics.
On the back of 11 years in power, and facing a smiling Kevin Rudd, mobbed by crowds jostling wherever he went, John Howard didn't stand a chance, and the groundswell of public support saw him lose his seat - the first prime minister to do so since Stanley Bruce in 1929.
Rudd as prime minister: the good, the bad and the ugly
Mr Rudd began his term with his trademark zeal and drive, and early achievements included the apology to the Stolen Generations, ratifying the Kyoto protocol, and successfully navigating the Global Financial Crisis.
But the popularity that helped propel to to the top job never translated to within the party, and when it began to ebb it left him vulnerable to attack.
From within the party reports emerged of growing dysfunction and a lack of coherence and focus in policy.
His office was accused of micromanaging ministers - or excluding them from decision-making altogether€“ and Mr Rudd himself had a reputation for bursts of anger and brusqueness.
It is a reputation that stayed with Mr Rudd from his time in Queensland politics, and with the failure of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and a sustained attack against Mr Rudd's proposed mining tax, and a sustained attack against Mr Rudd's proposed , his personal approval rating began to slide.
The ascension of Tony Abbott to opposition leader, resulting in the collapse of bi-partisan support for the emissions trading scheme, and Mr Rudd's decision not to go to an election on issue saw in growing speculation he would be replaced.
Mr Abbott also aggressively and successfully attacked the prime minister over the governments handling of the insulation scheme, and the Building the Education Revolution infrastructure program.
And on June 23, 2010, after reports emerged of his youthful chief of staff canvassing levels of support within the party, then deputy prime minister Julia Gillard publicly requested Mr Rudd hold a leadership ballot.
IN PICTURES: The lighter side of politics.
Rudd loses out to Gillard and Labor's so-called 'faceless men'
However after realising he would not have the support to win the balance Mr Rudd stood down as prime minister and Labor leader.
It was this event that would set the tone for the next three years of politics, and the re-emergence of an old term in Australian vernacular - the faceless men.
But no-one could anticipate the depth of his desire to return to the office of Prime Minister, and he remained in Parliament on the back bench.
In the 2010 campaign, Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard posed for a photo opportunity in Brisbane intended to show the pair working together, however the campaign was riven by leaks that many placed at the feet of Mr Rudd or his supporters within the party.
These leaks, and a series of blunders derailed the Gillard campaign forcing her to form a minority government with the help of several independents.
Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard formed a fractious relationship from September 2010 until February 2012 with Mr Rudd as prime minister Gillard's foreign minister, however speculation continued to dog the government.
Their relationship finally broke down after the leaking of a video showing Mr Rudd swearing in frustration while attempting to record a video message in Mandarin. Mr Rudd resigned from Cabinet and launched a challenge that was resoundingly swept aside by the Gillard camp, 71 votes to 31.
That vote came after an extraordinary barrage against Mr Rudd from ministers and MPs who served under him. Wayne Swan called Mr Rudd’s tenure "dysfunctional", Tony Burke described an office paralysed by chaos, while Stephen Conroy said Mr Rudd had "contempt" for his colleagues.
THE SHOWDOWN IN PICTURES: Kevin Rudd takes on Julia GIllard for Labor leadership.
Leadership ballot and Rudd's return to the prime ministership
Leadership tensions again came to a head in March, when another former leader, Simon Crean, urged Julia Gillard to call a leadership spill after months of flat lining polls pointed to a clear win for Tony Abbott's Coalition at the upcoming election.
Ms Gillard brought on the spill within hours, forcing Mr Rudd to not contest a ballot he would have lost. He said then that there were "no circumstances" under which he would return to the Labor leadership.
That position was amended to that he "did not believe" there were circumstances that would facilitate a return, which was seized upon as a signal that the manoeuvrings and deals were back on, despite Mr Rudd's vow that he would not launch a challenge.
Instead, he would only accept the position again if drafted by an "overwhelming majority" of Labor MPs, and by June 2013 speculation had reached fever pitch - forcing Ms Gillard to again call a leadership ballot on June 26.
This time Mr Rudd contested and was successful - winning the ballot 57 to 45 - and removing Australia's first female prime minister.
IN PICTURES: Rudd's election campaign. Photo: AAP.
The line put forward by colleagues from within the ALP was he was returned to save Labor from a catastrophic electoral defeat and to "save the furniture".
A brief resurgence in popularity raised hopes of a political fairy tale, however a disciplined campaign by Tony Abbott saw Mr Rudd and Labor defeated by 17 seats.
Colleagues on both sides of parliament have named Mr Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations as his greatest legacy, however he is more likely to be remembered as the man who led Labor out of the electoral wilderness only to break the party within office.
