I have been pondering this question in recent days amid the spate of rumors that the former president has gone to "meet Marx."

China has since dismissed the reports as "pure rumors." Still, this may be an opportune time to look back at Jiang's life as China's paramount leader -- a successor to the legendary strongmen, Chairman Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

I have followed Jiang's colorful career since I first met him in 1985, when I sat down with him for an exclusive interview for TIME Magazine. He had just been named mayor of Shanghai, China's then-largest metropolis.

He came across as an affable technocrat who took pride in occasionally speaking in English.

We conversed about old Hollywood movies, history and literature -- things he remembered while growing up as a teenager in Shanghai.

He even recited parts of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in English. When I complimented him on his wide range of interests and talents, he said he was only a "Jack of all trades, a master of none."