New Delhi: Hu joined Mao's revolutionary youth brigades and later joined the Communist Party of China in 1964, the year he graduated as a hydraulic engineer.
He was in his twenties during the brutal Cultural Revolution launched by Mao in 1966.
His met his mentor, Song Ping, the first secretary in the party, where Hu was working. That led him to meet and impress China's most powerful men - Deng Xioping and Hu Yaobang.
However, he also showed his tough side with a crackdown on Tibetan activists as party chief.
Ahead of the 14th party congress, he was handpicked by Deng at Song Ping's suggestion and backed by others, to become the youngest Politburo member and in line to succeed Jiang Zemin as a future president.
Says Professor Alka Acharya of School of International Relations, JNU, "Unlike Jiang Zemin who was known for his Shanghai Clique or Shanghai Faction, Hu Jintao has more of a rural kind of bias to him."
Hu's hallmark has been this potent combination - quiet and tough - with an easy feel for the disgruntled hinterland.
And he has been active on the foreign policy front since the time of Jiang Zemin.
Be it a nuclear energy pact now with Egypt or engaging Africa by plunging huge investments, China is quite capable of dictating world events.
Hu is said to have been a good student in school, with a penchant for singing and dancing.
He is now turning his attention to India, an important and troublesome neighbour of the past, with a visit that begins on Monday.
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