List of presidents of Portugal

The complete list of presidents of the Portuguese Republic consists of the 20 heads of state in the history of Portugal since the 5 October 1910 revolution that installed a republican regime. This list includes not only those persons who were sworn into office as President of Portugal but also those who de facto served as head of state since 1910. This is the case of Teófilo Braga who served as President of the Provisional Government after the republican coup d'état. Also Sidónio Pais, Mendes Cabeçadas, Gomes da Costa, as well as Canto e Castro and Óscar Carmona in their early months, were not sworn into office as presidents of the Republic, usually being prime ministers, but de facto accumulated this function, thus combining in practice head of state and head of government in one person. See the notes for more information.

For Portuguese heads of state prior to 1910, see list of Portuguese monarchs.

President of the Portuguese Republic
Arms of the Portuguese Republic
Flag of the president
Incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa since 9 March 2016
Style	Excellency
Residence	Belém Palace
Term length	Five years, renewable once; may run for third and final non-consecutive term.
Inaugural holder	Manuel de Arriaga
Formation	5 October 1910
Website	http://www.presidencia.pt/

Presidents

The numbering reflects the uninterrupted terms in office served by a single man. For example, Jorge Sampaio served two consecutive terms and is counted as the 19th president (not the 19th and 20th). Teófilo Braga served as the first and sole president of the Provisional Government, and therefore is not considered to be the first president, although he would serve again as head of state and be the second president after the resignation of Manuel de Arriaga. However, Bernardino Machado served two non-consecutive terms, and he is counted as both the third and the eighth presidents. Because of this, the list below contains 20 presidencies, but only 19 presidents.

Under the Constitution of Portugal adopted in 1976, in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the president is elected to a five-year term; there is no limit to the number of terms a president may serve, but a president who serves two consecutive terms may not serve again in the next five years after the second term finishes.

The official residence of the president of Portugal is the Belém Palace.

The current president of Portugal is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the winner of the 2016 presidential election.

The colors indicate the political affiliation of each president.

     Republican
     Democratic
     National Republican/Sidonist
     Evolutionist Party/Republican Liberal
     National Union/Popular National Action
     Democratic Renewal
     Socialist
     Social Democratic
     No party

First Republic (1910–1926)

No.	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Elected	Term of office		Political party
President of the Provisional Government of the Republic (1910–1911)
-	Teófilo Braga[1] (1843–1924)		–	October 5, 1910	August 24, 1911	Republican
Presidents of the Republic (1911–1926)
1	Manuel de Arriaga (1840–1917)		1911	August 24, 1911	May 26, 1915^[R]	Republican later Democratic
2	Teófilo Braga[2] (1843–1924)		May 1915	May 29, 1915	October 5, 1915	Democratic
3	Bernardino Machado (1851–1944)		August 1915	October 5, 1915	December 5, 1917^[C]	Democratic
-	Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: Sidónio Pais		–	December 12, 1917	April 28, 1918	–
4	Sidónio Pais[3] (1872–1918)		April 1918	April 28, 1918	December 14, 1918^[A]	National Republican or "Sidonist"
-	Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: João do Canto e Castro		–	December 14, 1918	December 16, 1918	–
5	João do Canto e Castro[4] (1862–1934)		December 1918	December 16, 1918	October 5, 1919	National Republican or "Sidonist"
6	António José de Almeida (1866–1929)		1919	October 5, 1919	October 5, 1923	Evolutionist Party later Republican Liberal
7	Manuel Teixeira Gomes (1860–1941)		1923	October 5, 1923	December 11, 1925^[R]	Democratic
8	Bernardino Machado (1851–1944) 2nd time		1925	December 11, 1925	May 31, 1926^[C]	Democratic

Second Republic (1926–1974)

No.	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Elected	Term of office		Political party
Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) (1926–1932)
9	José Mendes Cabeçadas[5] (1883–1965)		–	May 31, 1926	June 17, 1926^[C]	Military officer
-	Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: Manuel Gomes da Costa		–	June 17, 1926	June 29, 1926	–
10	Manuel Gomes da Costa[5] (1863–1929)		–	June 29, 1926	July 9, 1926^[C]	Military officer
-	Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: Óscar Carmona		–	July 9, 1926	November 29, 1926	–
11	Óscar Carmona[5][6] (1869–1951)		–	November 29, 1926	April 15, 1928	Military officer
Estado Novo (New State) (1932–1974)
11	Óscar Carmona (1869–1951)		1928	April 15, 1928	April 26, 1935	Military officer from 1932 National Union
			1935	April 26, 1935	April 15, 1942
			1942	April 15, 1942	April 20, 1949
			1949	April 20, 1949	April 18, 1951^[D]
-	António de Oliveira Salazar[7] (1889–1970) (interim)		–	April 18, 1951	July 21, 1951	National Union
12	Francisco Craveiro Lopes (1894–1964)		1951	July 21, 1951	August 9, 1958	National Union
13	Américo Tomás (1894–1987)		1958	August 9, 1958	August 9, 1965	National Union from 1970 People's National Action
			1965	August 9, 1965	August 9, 1972
			1972	August 9, 1972	April 25, 1974^[C]

Third Republic (1974–present)

No.	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Elected	Term of office		Political party
Presidents appointed in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution (1974–1976)
-	National Salvation Junta[8] President: António de Spínola		–	April 25, 1974	May 15, 1974	–
14	António de Spínola (1910–1996)		–	May 15, 1974	September 30, 1974^[R]	Military officer
15	Francisco da Costa Gomes (1914–2001)		–	September 30, 1974	July 13, 1976	Military officer
Presidents elected under the Constitution of the Republic (1976–present)
16	António Ramalho Eanes (born 1935)		1976	July 14, 1976	January 14, 1981	Military officer from 1985 Democratic Renewal
			1980	January 14, 1981	March 9, 1986
17	Mário Soares (1924–2017)		1986	March 9, 1986	March 9, 1991	Socialist
			1991	March 9, 1991	March 9, 1996
18	Jorge Sampaio (born 1939)		1996	March 9, 1996	March 9, 2001	Socialist
			2001	March 9, 2001	March 9, 2006
19	Aníbal Cavaco Silva (born 1939)		2006	March 9, 2006	March 9, 2011	Social Democratic
			2011	March 9, 2011	March 9, 2016
20	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (born 1948)		2016	March 9, 2016	Incumbent	Social Democratic

• Left office early:

^[A] Assassinated.

^[D] Died in office of natural causes.

^[R] Resigned.

^[C] Forced to resign due to a coup d'état.

Timeline

Presidents of Portugal (1910–Present)

Birthplaces

Pais

Canto e Castro, Gomes da Costa, Carmona, Craveiro Lopes, Thomaz, Soares, Sampaio, Rebelo de Sousa

Almeida

Teixeira Gomes

Mendes Cabeçadas

António de Spínola

Costa Gomes

Ramalho Eanes

Cavaco Silva

Birthplaces of the presidents of the Portuguese Republic. Not shown are Manuel de Arriaga (born in Horta, Azores, Portugal), Teófilo Braga (born in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal), and Bernardino Machado (born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Presidents by time in office

Rank by length of terms	President	Length by time served	Number of terms	Party
1	Óscar Carmona	24 years, 286 days	5	National Union
2	Américo Tomás	15 years, 259 days	3	National Union
3	Mário Soares	10 years, 0 days	2	Socialist
	Jorge Sampaio	10 years, 0 days	2	Socialist
	Aníbal Cavaco Silva	10 years, 0 days	2	Social Democratic
4	António Ramalho Eanes	9 years, 238 days	2	Independent
5	Francisco Craveiro Lopes	7 years, 12 days	1	National Union
6	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa	4 years, 161 days (Incumbent)	1	Social Democratic
7	António José de Almeida	4 years, 0 days	1	Evolutionist Party
8	Manuel de Arriaga	3 years, 278 days	1	Democratic
9	Bernardino Machado	2 years, 239 days	2	Democratic
10	Manuel Teixeira Gomes	2 year, 67 days	1	Democratic
11	Francisco da Costa Gomes	1 year, 288 days	1	Independent
12	Teófilo Braga	1 year, 87 days	1	Democratic
13	Sidónio Pais	1 year, 2 days	1	National Republican
14	João do Canto e Castro	295 days	1	National Republican
15	António de Spínola	158 days	1	Independent
16	Manuel Gomes da Costa	22 days	1	Independent
17	José Mendes Cabeçadas	17 days	1	Independent
Interim	António de Oliveira Salazar	94 days	-	National Union

See also

• President of Portugal
• First Lady of Portugal
• List of Presidents of Portugal by longevity
• List of Prime Ministers of Portugal
• List of Portuguese monarchs
• Prime Minister of Portugal
• Politics of Portugal
• History of Portugal
  • History of Portugal (1910–1926)
  • History of Portugal (1926–1932)
  • History of Portugal (1932–1974)
  • History of Portugal (1974–1986)
  • History of Portugal (1986–2000)
  • History of Portugal (2000–present)
• Timeline of Portuguese history

Notes

1. Teófilo Braga served as President of the Provisional Government, the de facto head of government and head of state, from the republican revolution of 1910 to the election of Manuel de Arriaga, the 1st President of Portugal.
2. "Teófilo Braga". PRESIDENCY OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
3. After leading a coup d'état, Sidónio Pais became President of the Revolutionary Junta and later Prime Minister (President of the Ministry). He then abolished the post of Prime Minister, assuming himself as the head of government as President of the Republic. He was assassinated in 1918.
4. Canto e Castro was head of the Council of Ministers that served as the head of state of Portugal after the assassination of Sidónio Pais in 1918, from December 14 to December 16. He then became interim president until the election of António José de Almeida.
5. Mendes Cabeçadas, Gomes da Costa and Óscar Carmona were the heads of the revolutionary provisional governments during the year of 1926. Although not called Presidents, they were de facto heads of state.
6. Óscar Carmona served initially as head of the revolutionary government after a counter-coup deposed Gomes da Costa. He was de facto head of state between July 9 and November 16, 1926. However he officially took office as President of the Republic on November 16, 1926. Six years later, in 1932, the Estado Novo was proclaimed and the National Union, the only legal party, was formed by António de Oliveira Salazar. Carmona joined the party and was the party's candidate for every presidential election (that were considered fraudulent) until 1951, when he died.
7. António de Oliveira Salazar, the dictatorial President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) occupied the post of president interim between the death of Óscar Carmona and the election of Francisco Craveiro Lopes.
8. Between the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974 and May 15 of the same year, António de Spínola was the head of the National Salvation Junta, being the de facto head of state and government. After May 15 Adelino da Palma Carlos became the Prime Minister, and Spínola continued as de jure head of state as President of the Republic.

References

• Jornal de Notícias (January–May 2006). Museu da Presidência da República/Jornal de Notícias (ed.). Presidents de Portugal - Fotobiografias (1st ed.). Porto.
• "Portal da História". Biografias dos Presidentes. Retrieved February 8, 2006.