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President for life facts for kids

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Mansudae-Monument-Bow-2014
Mansu Hill Grand Monument in Pyongyang, depicting "eternal leaders" of North Korea, President Kim Il Sung and General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

President for life is a title assumed by or granted to some presidents to extend their tenure up until their death. The title sometimes confers on the holder the right to nominate or appoint a successor. The usage of the title of "president for life" rather than a traditionally autocratic title, such as that of a monarch, implies the subversion of liberal democracy by the titleholder (although republics need not be democratic per se). Indeed, sometimes a president for life can proceed to establish a self-proclaimed monarchy, such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe in Haiti.

Similarity to a monarch

A president for life may be regarded as a de facto monarch. In fact, other than the title, political scientists often face difficulties in differentiating a state ruled by a president for life (especially one who inherits the job from a family dictatorship) and a monarchy – indeed, Samoa's long-serving President for life, Malietoa Tanumafili II, was frequently and mistakenly referred to as King. In his proposed plan for government at the United States Constitutional Convention Alexander Hamilton proposed that the chief executive be a governor elected to serve for good behavior, acknowledging that such an arrangement might be seen as an elective monarchy. It was for that very reason that the proposal was rejected. A notable difference between a monarch and a president-for-life is that the successor of the president does not necessarily possess a life-long term, like in Turkmenistan and Samoa.

Most leaders who have proclaimed themselves president for life have not in fact successfully gone on to serve a life term. Most have been deposed long before their death while others achieve a lifetime presidency by being assassinated while in office. However, some have managed to rule until their (natural) deaths, including José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia of Paraguay, Alexandre Pétion of Haiti, Rafael Carrera of Guatemala, François Duvalier of Haiti, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, and Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Others made unsuccessful attempts to have themselves named president for life, such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire in 1972.

Some long-serving authoritarian presidents are mistakenly described as presidents for life. They were never officially granted life terms and, in fact, stood periodically for reelection. However, in most cases, these were sham elections.

List of leaders who became president for life

Note: The first date listed in each entry is the date of proclamation of the status as President for Life.

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Country Title Took office Left office Notes
Général Toussaint Louverture.jpg Toussaint Louverture
(1743–1803)
French Saint-Domingue Governor for Life of Saint-Domingue 1801 1802 Deposed 1802, died in exile in France 1803.
Henri Christophe.jpg Henri Christophe
(1767–1820)
 Haiti President for Life of Haiti (Northern) 1807 1811 Became King 1811, died while reigning 1820.
Dr francia.JPG José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
(1766–1840)
 Paraguay Perpetual Supreme Dictator of Paraguay 1816 1840 Died in office 1840.
Portrait du président Alexandre Pétion (cropped).jpg Alexandre Pétion
(1770–1818)
Haiti President for Life of Haiti (Southern) 1816 1818 Died in office 1818.
Président Jean-Pierre Boyer.jpg Jean-Pierre Boyer
(1776–1850)
President for Life of Haiti 1818 1843 Became President for Life immediately upon assuming the office because Alexandre Pétion's constitution provided for a life presidency for all his successors, deposed 1843, died 1850.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.jpg Antonio López de Santa Anna
(1794–1876)
 Mexico President for Life of Mexico 1853 1855 Resigned 1855, died 1876.
Carrerap02.jpg Rafael Carrera
(1814–1865)
Guatemala President for Life of Guatemala 1854 1865 Died in office 1865.
Hitler portrait crop.jpg Adolf Hitler
(1889–1945)
 Germany Chancellor and Führer for life 1934 1945 Committed suicide in office 1945.
Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole 1962 (cropped).jpg Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole
(1905–1963)
 Samoa O le Ao o le Malo for Life of Samoa 1962 1963 Died in office 1963, elected to serve alongside Tanumafili II (see below). The position of O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) is ceremonial; executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister, and Samoa is a parliamentary democracy.
Malietoa Tanumafili II (cropped).jpg Malietoa Tanumafili II
(1913–2007)
2007 Died in office 2007, elected to serve alongside Meaʻole (see above).
Presiden Sukarno.jpg Sukarno
(1901–1970)
 Indonesia Supreme Commander, Great Leader of Revolution, Mandate Holder of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly, and President for Life of Indonesia 1963 1966 Designated as President for Life according to the Ketetapan MPRS No. III/MPRS/1963, life term removed 1966, deposed 1967, died under house arrest 1970.
Kwame Nkrumah (JFKWHP-AR6409-A).jpg Kwame Nkrumah
(1909–1972)
 Ghana President for Life of Ghana 1964 1966 Ousted in 1966, died in exile in Romania 1972.
Duvalier (cropped).jpg François "Papa Doc" Duvalier
(1907–1971)
 Haiti President for Life of Haiti 1964 1971 Died in office 1971, named his son as his successor (see below).
Baby Doc (centrée).jpg Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
(1951–2014)
1971 1986 Named by his father as successor (see above), deposed 1986, died 2014.
Dr HK Banda, first president of Malawi.jpg Hastings Banda
(1898–1997)
 Malawi President for Life of Malawi 1971 1993 Life term removed 1993, voted out of office 1994, died 1997.
Bokassa colored.png Jean-Bédel Bokassa
(1921–1996)
 Central African Republic President for Life of the Central African Republic 1972 1976 Became Emperor 1976 (crowned 1977), deposed 1979, died 1996.
Don Francisco Macias.jpg Francisco Macías Nguema
(1924–1979)
 Equatorial Guinea President for Life of Equatorial Guinea 1972 1979 Deposed and executed 1979.
Ferdinand Marcos.JPEG Ferdinand Marcos
(1917–1989)
 Philippines President for Life of the Philippines 1973 1981 Life term removed in 1981, Deposed in 1986, replaced by Corazon Aquino, died in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States in 1989.
Josip Broz Tito uniform portrait.jpg Josip Broz Tito
(1892–1980)
 Yugoslavia President for Life of Yugoslavia 1974 1980 Appointed as President for Life according to the 1974 Constitution, died in office 1980.
Portrait officiel de Habib Bourguiba.png Habib Bourguiba
(1903–2000)
Tunisia President for Life of Tunisia 1975 1987 Deposed 1987, died under house arrest 2000.
Idi Amin at UN (United Nations, New York) gtfy.00132 (cropped).jpg Idi Amin
(1925–2003)
 Uganda (Second Republic) President for Life of Uganda 1976 1979 Deposed 1979, died in exile in Saudi Arabia 2003.
LENNOX SEBE PRESIDENT.jpg Lennox Sebe
(1926–1994)
South Africa South Africa
( Ciskei)
President for Life of Ciskei 1983 1990 Deposed 1990, died 1994.
Saparmurat Niyazov in 2002.jpg Saparmurat Niyazov
(1940–2006)
 Turkmenistan President for Life of Turkmenistan 1999 2006 Died in office 2006.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Presidente vitalicio para niños

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