Vice President of Panama Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Vice President of the Republic of Panama
Vice Presidential standard
Vice Presidential seal
Incumbent Vacant since 1 July 2024
Style	Mr. Vice President (Informal) The Honorable (Formal) His Excellency (Diplomatic, outside Panama)
Seat	Panama City, Panama
Term length	5 years renewable once, non-consecutively
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Panama
Inaugural holder	Pablo Arosemena, José Domingo de Obaldia and Carlos Antonio Mendoza
Formation	September 1904
Website	Presidencia de la República

The Vice President of Panama is a very important job in the Government of Panama. It is the second-highest political position in the country. Since 2009, three different people have served as Vice President.

Before 1945, Panama had "presidential designates." These were people chosen by the National Assembly for a two-year term. In 1945, the country changed this system. They decided to have two Vice Presidents instead.

Today, the current constitution says that the Vice President is chosen at the same time as the President of Panama. They run for election together as a team.

Panama's Early Leaders: Presidential Designates (1904–1945)
Vice Presidents of Panama (1945–2009)
Recent Vice Presidents (After 2009)
Images for kids
See also

Panama's Early Leaders: Presidential Designates (1904–1945)

Before the 1946 constitution, Panama used a system of "presidential designates." There were three of these positions:

First Designate (Primer Designado a la Presidencia)
Second Designate (Segundo Designado a la Presidencia)
Third Designate (Tercer Designado a la Presidencia)

These designates were like backups for the president. If the president couldn't do their job, one of the designates would step in.

Term	President	First designate	Second designate	Third designate	Notes
1904–1906	Manuel Amador Guerrero	Pablo Arosemena	José Domingo de Obaldia	Carlos Antonio Mendoza
1906–1908	Manuel Amador Guerrero	José Domingo de Obaldía	Federico Boyd	Rafael Aizpuru
1908–1909	José Domingo de Obaldía	José Agustín Arango	Carlos Antonio Mendoza	Juan M. Lambert
1909–1910	José Domingo de Obaldía	Carlos Antonio Mendoza	Juan M. Lambert	Vacant	Mendoza became president
1910	Carlos Antonio Mendoza	Juan M. Lambert	Vacant	Vacant
1910	Carlos Antonio Mendoza	Pablo Arosemena	Federico Boyd	Rodolfo Chiari	Arosemena became president
1910–1912	Pablo Arosemena	Federico Boyd	Rodolfo Chiari	Vacant
1912–1914	Belisario Porras	Rodolfo Chiari	Ramón Maximiliano Valdés	Aristides Arjona
1914–1916	Belisario Porras	Ramón Maximiliano Valdés	Manuel Quintero	Ciro Urriola
1916–1918	Ramón Maximiliano Valdés	Ciro Urriola	Ramón F. Acevedo	Pedro Antonio Díaz	Urriola became president
1918	Ciro Urriola	Ramón F. Acevedo	Pedro Antonio Díaz	Vacant
1918 (Sep-Oct)	Ciro Urriola	Belisario Porras	Pedro Antonio Díaz	Ernesto Lefevre	Porras became president
1918–1919	Belisario Porras	Pedro Antonio Díaz	Ernesto Lefevre	Vacant
1919–1920	Belisario Porras	Ernesto Lefevre	Vacant	Vacant	Lefevre became president
1920–1922	Belisario Porras	Federico Boyd	Guillermo Andreve	Julio Fábrega
1922–1924	Belisario Porras	Rodolfo Chiari	Ignacio Quinzada	Nicanor A. De Obarrio
1924–1926	Rodolfo Chiari	Enrique Adolfo Jiménez	Carlos Laureano López	Enrique Linares
1926–1928	Rodolfo Chiari	Tomás Gabriel Duque	Carlos Laureano López	Enrique Linares
1928–1930	Florencio Harmodio Arosemena	Ricardo Alfaro	Carlos Laureano López	Eduardo Chiari
1930–1931	Florencio Harmodio Arosemena	Tomás Gabriel Duque	Carlos Laureano López	Enrique Linares
1931	Harmodio Arias Madrid	Ricardo Alfaro	Carlos Laureano López	Eduardo Chiari	Alfaro became president
1931–1932	Ricardo Alfaro	Carlos Laureano López	Eduardo Chiari	Vacant
1932–1934	Harmodio Arias Madrid	Domingo Díaz Arosemena	Carlos W. Muller	José de Obaldía Jované
1934–1936	Harmodio Arias Madrid	Enrique Adolfo Jiménez	Ricado A. Morales	Miguel Ángel Grimaldo
1936–1938	Juan Demóstenes Arosemena	Augusto Samuel Boyd	Héctor Valdés	Ezequiel Fernández
1938–1939	Juan Demóstenes Arosemena	Augusto Samuel Boyd	Ezequiel Fernández	Jacinto López y León	Boyd became president
1939–1940	Augusto Samuel Boyd	Ezequiel Fernández	Jacinto López y León	Vacant
1940–1941	Arnulfo Arias	José Pezet Arosemena	Ernesto Jaén Guardia (resigned on 9 October 1941)	Aníbal Ríos Delgado
1941	Ricardo de la Guardia	José Pezet Arosemena (resigned on 11 October 1941)	Aníbal Ríos Delgado	Vacant
1941	Ricardo de la Guardia	Aníbal Ríos Delgado (resigned on 13 December 1941)	Vacant	Vacant
1941–1945	Ricardo de la Guardia	Vacant	Vacant	Vacant
1945	Ricardo de la Guardia	Jeptha Brawner Duncan Guillén-Arosemena	Miguel Ángel Grimaldo	Alcibíades Arosemena

Vice Presidents of Panama (1945–2009)

The 1946 constitution changed things. It created two Vice President positions instead of three designates. Later, the 1972 constitution removed the second Vice President. But in 1983, the second Vice President position was brought back. Vice Presidents were always elected with the President.

Term	President	First Vice President	Second Vice President	Notes
1945–1948	Enrique Adolfo Jiménez	Ernesto de la Guardia	Raúl Jiménez (politician)
1948–1949	Domingo Díaz Arosemena	Daniel Chanis	Roberto Chiari	Chanis became president
1949	Daniel Chanis	Roberto Chiari	Vacant	Chiari became president
1949 (Nov)	Roberto Chiari	Vacant	Vacant
1949–1951	Arnulfo Arias	Alcibíades Arosemena	José Ramón Guizado	Arosemena became president
1951–1952	Alcibíades Arosemena	José Ramón Guizado	Vacant
1952–1955	José Antonio Remón Cantera	José Ramón Guizado	Ricardo Arias	Guizado became president
1955	José Ramón Guizado	Ricardo Arias	Vacant	Arias became president
1955–1956	Ricardo Arias	Vacant	Vacant
1956–1960	Ernesto de la Guardia	Temistocles Díaz	Heraclio Barletta
1960–1964	Roberto Chiari	Sergio González Ruíz	José Dominador Bazán
1964–1968	Marco Aurelio Robles	Max Delvalle Levy-Maduro	Raúl Arango Navarro
1968	Arnulfo Arias	Raúl Arango Navarro	José Dominador Bazán
1968–1972	Junta	Vacant	Vacant
1972–1975	Demetrio B. Lakas	Arturo Sucre Pereira (resigned)
1975–1978	Demetrio B. Lakas	Gerardo González Vernaza
1978–1982	Aristides Royo	Ricardo de la Espriella		Espriella became president
1982–1984	Ricardo de la Espriella	Jorge Illueca		Illueca became president
1984	Jorge Illueca	Carlos Ozores Typaldos
1984–1985	Nicolás Ardito Barletta	Eric Arturo Delvalle	Roderick Esquivel	Delvalle became president
1985–1987	Eric Arturo Delvalle	Roderick Esquivel	Vacant	Left office on 8 September 1987
1989	Francisco Rodríguez	Carlos Ozores Typaldos	Vacant
1989–1992	Guillermo Endara	Ricardo Arias Calderón	Guillermo Ford Boyd
1992–1994	Guillermo Endara	Guillermo Ford Boyd	Vacant
1994–1999	Ernesto Pérez Balladares	Tomás Gabriel Altamirano Duque	Felipe Alejandro Virzi Lopez
1999–2004	Mireya Moscoso	Arturo Ulises Vallarino Bartuano	Dominador Baldomero Bazán
2004–2009	Martín Torrijos	Samuel Lewis Navarro	Rubén Arosemena Valdés

Recent Vice Presidents (After 2009)

Since 2009, Panama has continued to elect Vice Presidents. They are still chosen on the same ticket as the President. This means voters pick a President and Vice President together.

Term	President	Vice President
2009–2014	Ricardo Martinelli	Juan Carlos Varela
2014–2019	Juan Carlos Varela	Isabel Saint Malo
2019–2024	Laurentino Cortizo	José Gabriel Carrizo
2024–present	José Raúl Mulino	Vacant