Since the office was established in 1825, 65 men and 2 women have served as president. The first president, Simón Bolívar, was elected by the General Assembly of Deputies of the Province of Upper Peru. For purposes of numbering, members of jointly-ruling juntas and other governing bodies are not included in the official count of presidents, unless one member later assumed the presidency in their own right. Three presidents: Antonio José de Sucre, Germán Busch, and Hernán Siles Zuazo became, after a brief, non-consecutive, interim exercise of power, presidents for longer terms later. In these cases, they are numbered according to that second term. Therefore, Busch is counted as the 36th president, not the 35th, Siles Zuazo as the 46th instead of the 45th, etc.[1]
The presidency of Pedro Blanco Soto, who was assassinated six days after taking office in 1828, was the shortest in Bolivian history. Evo Morales served the longest, over thirteen years, before resigning in 2019. He is the only president to have served more than two consecutive terms. José Miguel de Velasco and Víctor Paz Estenssoro each served for four terms. However, all of Velasco's were non-consecutive and two were in an acting capacity while Paz Estenssoro only served twice consecutively in 1960 and 1964.
22 presidents were deposed in 23 coups d'état (1839, 1841; twice, 1848; twice, 1857, 1861, 1864, 1871, 1876, 1879, 1920, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1978; twice, 1979, and 1980). Velasco was deposed twice in 1841 and December 1848. Additionally, the Council of Ministers of Hernando Siles Reyes was deposed in 1930. Three presidents were deposed by a civil war, a popular uprising, and a revolution. Transmissions of command from one de facto government to another de facto government occurred in seven cases (1841, 1946, 1965, 1966, 1981; twice, and 1982). Two special cases occurred in 1939 when Carlos Quintanilla was installed by the military after the death of Germán Busch and in 1951 when President Mamerto Urriolagoitía resigned in a self-coup in favor of a military junta. Two unconstitutional successions occurred in 1930 when Hernando Siles Reyes entrusted command to his council of ministers and 1934 when Daniel Salamanca was ousted in favor of his vice president, José Luis Tejada Sorzano.[3] Finally, some supporters of Evo Morales claim that he was ousted by a coup d'état and that the presidency of Jeanine Áñez was an unconstitutional succession of power. However, this is disputed.[4]
There are seven living former presidents. The most recent to die was Luis García Meza, on 29 April 2018.
Presidents
Heads of state of the State of Upper Peru, or Republic of Bolívar (1825–1826)
José Miguel de Velasco Franco was a Bolivian military officer and statesman who served as the fourth president of Bolivia on four occasions: 1828, 1829, 1839–1841, and 1848. Velasco also served as the second vice president from 1829 to 1835 under Andrés de Santa Cruz, though the first two of his terms were as vice president-designate, pending Santa Cruz's arrival to the country.
Luis Paz Arce was a Bolivian historian, journalist, jurist, lawyer, and politician who served on the Supreme Court of Justice of Bolivia for twenty-three years, an associate justice from 1905 to 1919 and as the president from 1919 until his death in 1928. A conservative, Paz held a lengthy political and academic background, serving in various legislative and ministerial positions from the early 1880s to the mid-1890s, including as minister of war from 1895 to 1896, minister of government from 1892 to 1895, and senator for Tarija from 1892 to 1898. In 1921, the National Convention selected him to be vice president under Bautista Saavedra, but he rejected the position, preferring to remain on the High Court.
The Velasco III Cabinet constituted the 10th and 11th cabinets of the Bolivian Republic. It was formed on 27 March 1839, thirty-three days after José Miguel de Velasco was reinstalled as the 4th president of Bolivia following a coup d'état, succeeding the Santa Cruz Cabinet. It was dissolved on 10 June 1841 upon Velasco's overthrow in another coup d'état and was succeeded by the Cabinet of José Ballivián.
The Ballivián Cabinet, which comprised the 12th to 14th cabinets of the Bolivian Republic, came into being on October 18, 1841. This was 21 days after José Ballivián assumed office as the 9th president of Bolivia, following a coup d'état that saw him take over from the Third Velasco Cabinet. The cabinet continued to serve until December 23, 1847, when Ballivián resigned from office, and it was subsequently dissolved. Cabinet of Eusebio Guilarte succeeded the Ballivián Cabinet.
The Velasco IV Cabinet constituted the 16th cabinet of the Bolivian Republic. It was formed on 4 February 1848, 17 days after José Miguel de Velasco was reinstalled) as the 4th president of Bolivia following a coup d'état, succeeding the Guilarte Cabinet. It was dissolved on 16 October 1848 when acting president José María Linares merged all ministerial portfolios into a singular General Secretariat and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Manuel Isidoro Belzu.
The Belzu Cabinet constituted the 17th to 22nd cabinets of the Bolivian Republic. It was formed on 10 February 1849, 66 days after Manuel Isidoro Belzu was installed as the 11th president of Bolivia following a coup d'état, succeeding the Fourth Velasco Cabinet. It was dissolved on 15 August 1855 upon the end of Belzu's term and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Jorge Córdova.
The Córdova Cabinet constituted the 23rd cabinet of the Bolivian Republic. It was formed on 17 August 1855, 2 days after Jorge Córdova was sworn-in as the 12th president of Bolivia following the 1855 general election, succeeding the Belzu Cabinet. It was dissolved on 9 September 1857 upon Córdova's overthrow in a coup d'état and was succeeded by the Cabinet of José María Linares.
The Linares Cabinet constituted the 24th cabinet of the Bolivian Republic. It was formed on 9 December 1857, 91 days after José María Linares was installed as the 13th president of Bolivia following a coup d'état, succeeding the Córdova Cabinet. It was dissolved on 14 January 1861 upon Linares' overthrow in another coup d'état and was succeeded by a Government Junta.
The Government Junta of Bolivia, officially known as the Governmental Junta of the Republic, or also as the Governmental Junta Charged with Supreme Command of the Nation, was a civil-military junta which ruled Bolivia from 14 January to 4 May 1861. It was chaired by a triumvirate of three men; two Bolivians and one Argentine: José María de Achá, Manuel Antonio Sánchez, and Ruperto Fernández, all of whom came to power after a coup d'état which ousted the government of José María Linares, the very president they had previously served under. The junta was dissolved on 4 May 1861 when the National Constituent Assembly elected Achá as the provisional president.
The Achá Cabinet constituted the 26th to 29th cabinets of the Bolivian Republic. It was formed on 17 May 1861, 13 days after José María de Achá was sworn-in as the 14th president of Bolivia following his election by the Constituent National Assembly, succeeding the Government Junta. It was dissolved on 28 December 1864 upon Achá's overthrow in a coup d'état and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Mariano Melgarejo.
The Melgarejo Cabinet constituted the 30th cabinet of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 19 June 1867 after Mariano Melgarejo was installed as the 15th president of Bolivia following the coup d'état, succeeding the Achá Cabinet. It was dissolved on 15 January 1871 upon Melgarejo's overthrow in another coup d'état and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Agustín Morales.
The Morales Cabinet constituted the 31st to 32nd cabinets of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 22 June 1871 after Agustín Morales took power in a coup d'état, succeeding the Melgarejo cabinet. It was dissolved on 27 November 1872 when Morales was assassinated. All Ministers of State were ratified in their positions by the new cabinet formed by Morales' successor Tomás Frías.
The Frías I Cabinet constituted the 33rd cabinet of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 28 November 1872 after Tomás Frías was sworn in as the 17th president of Bolivia following the assassination of Agustín Morales, succeeding the Morales Cabinet. It was dissolved on 9 May 1873 upon the end of Frías' mandate and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Adolfo Ballivián.
Events in the year 1825 in Bolivia. This year is celebrated in Bolivia as the official beginning of the nation, with the Declaration of Independence issued on 6 August.
Events in the year 1826 in Bolivia. The 1826 Constitution, the first constitution of Bolivia, was promulgated in November of this year.
Events in the year 1828 in Bolivia.
The Ballivián Cabinet constituted the 34th cabinet of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 9 May 1873 after Adolfo Ballivián was sworn in as the 18th president of Bolivia following the 1873 general election, succeeding the First Frías Cabinet. It was dissolved on 14 February 1874 upon Ballivián's death and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Tomás Frías II.
The Frías II Cabinet constituted the 35th cabinet of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 14 February 1874 after Tomás Frías was sworn in as the 17th president of Bolivia following the death of Adolfo Ballivián, succeeding the Ballivián Cabinet. It was dissolved on 4 May 1876 upon Frías' overthrow in a coup d'état and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Hilarión Daza.
The Daza cabinet constituted the 36th to 37th cabinets of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 28 October 1876, four months after Hilarión Daza was installed) as the 19th president of Bolivia following a coup d'état, succeeding the Frías cabinet. It was dissolved on 28 December 1879 upon Daza's overthrow in another coup d'état and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Narciso Campero.
The Campero Cabinet constituted the 39th to 41st cabinets of the Republic of Bolivia. It was formed on 20 June 1880, five months after Narciso Campero was installed as the 20th president of Bolivia following the War of the Pacific, succeeding the Daza Cabinet. It was dissolved on 4 September 1884 upon the end of Campero’s term and was succeeded by the Cabinet of Gregorio Pacheco.
References
Notes
1 2 3 4 5 Presidents are numbered according to first period served by the same person. For example, Ismael Montes served two nonconsecutive terms and is counted as the twenty-sixth president (not the twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth).
1 2 3 4 5 Presidents are categorized into two groups based on the legality of their arrival to power. Constitutional governments came to power through means prescribed by the Constitution of the time, typically through democratic election or by constitutional succession. De facto governments arrived to power through explicitly unconstitutional means, most commonly through coups d'état or a delegation of power not prescribed by the Constitution. Such de facto governments can become constitutional later either through the calling of democratic elections or the enactment of a new constitution.
↑ Maximum authority of the country until the arrival of Bolívar.[5]
1 2 3 4 5 Exerts command pending the arrival of the president-designate.[5]
↑ Whether Bolívar or Sucre was the first president is a source of academic dispute.[7][8]
↑ On 18 April 1828, Sucre delegated command to the council of ministers, presided by José María Pérez de Urdininea. At that time, Sucre did not resign. It was not until 2 August that he presented his definitive resignation to the Congress. Simultaneously, a new cabinet was appointed by decree, presided by José Miguel de Velasco.[14][15][16]
↑ Pending the reception of orders from Peru recognising national independence, the military authority transfers its functions to a General Constituent Congress, presided by Casimiro Olañeta and convened at Chuquisaca.[17]
↑ Exerts command pending the arrival of the president-designate Andrés de Santa Cruz, who did not arrive. Later, the Congress reconvened and elected Pedro Blanco Soto.[21][29]
↑ Andrés de Santa Cruz resigned from the presidency on 20 February, although in fact his government had been overthrown on the 17th. Most sources place the date of his official resignation as the end of his term.[32][33]
↑ Appointed to command the Bolivian State and serve as its representative the in absence of Santa Cruz who was governing the Peru-Bolivian Confederation on Peruvian soil.[37][32]
↑ On 9 February 1839, Velasco rebelled in Tupiza. In the following days, several pronouncements of support came until on 17 February the government chaired by Calvo was deposed. Velasco was sworn-in in Potosí after five days of lack of government.[32]
1 2 The Constitution of 1839 eliminated the vicepresidential position. In replacement, constitutional succession corresponds to the President of the Senate (Art. 69–71). This was modified on several occasions, corresponding to: the President of the National Council (1843: Art. 53–55); the Council of Ministers, which appoints a president from among its members (1851: Art. 73); the President of the Council of State (1861: Art. 53); the Council of Ministers as a whole (1868: Art. 67); the President of the Council of State (1871: Art. 70). The Constitution of 1878 (Art. 77) reestablished the vice presidency after 39 years.[43]
1 2 Acting for Andrés de Santa Cruz (in exile) who never took office.[46]
↑ On 22 September 1841, José Ballivián overthrew Calvo; days before, both Ballivián and José Miguel de Velasco at different points had disregarded the president and proclaimed themselves as heads of the republic. Between the day of the coup d'état and 27 September, the situation was on one side a vacancy of command and on the other simultaneous command of the country. Velasco in the south and Ballivián in La Paz proclaimed themselves president. Finally on the twenty-seventh, Ballivián was sworn-in to the presidency after five days of uncertainty.[48]
↑ After ten days in office, Guilarte left the executive due to the army uprising in Oruro, causing another period of vacancy. Manuel Isidoro Belzu was proclaimed president (December of 1847) in La Paz, while José Miguel de Velasco was declared in the south. The situation remained unclear until 18 January and Velasco's swearing-in.[48]
↑ The government became de facto on 7 September 1850 when the Congress declared itself empowered to adopt dictatorial measures. On 16 October, a dictatorship was formally established when Belzu assumed supreme command, with the use of extraordinary powers. Despite this, official records of the time continued refer to him as the Constitutional President of the Republic.[66]
↑ The overthrown government continued in dissidence until 21 October.[68]
↑ It is agreed by legal records and scholarly sources that Morales died on 27 November and Tomás Frías assumed office on 28 November. However, some texts in the list of presidents of Bolivia include Juan de Dios Bosque as acting president from the night of the 27th to the 28th. Why some sources include Bosque and others omit him is unclear, though it is possibly due to the fact that executive power was transferred to him automatically and not through any formal processes.[89]
↑ The Red Party, which was the origin of the Conservative and Liberal parties, was the faction which presented Ballivián in the 1873 election.[92] Prior to 1880, groups such as the Reds did not yet possess a programmatic and ideological structure that would allow them to be defined as proper political parties.[93]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Since the majority candidate did not achieve 51% of the total votes cast, Congress was responsible for the election of the president among the three most voted candidates. In all but two of these cases, it elected the winner of the popular vote plurality. In 1985, the Congress elected the second in the popular vote and in 1989 it elected the third in the popular vote.[94]
↑ Acting due to the illness of Adolfo Ballivián and upon his death governs as constitutional president.[97][98]
↑ On 17 April 1879, Daza delegated command to his council of ministers while he took command of the armed forces in the War of the Pacific. Given the absence of Minister of Government Serapio Reyes Ortiz, Pedro José de Guerra, senior minister of the Supreme Court, was entrusted to precide over the council of ministers. On 11 September, de Guerra died and was replaced by Reyes Ortiz.[103]
↑ When Daza was overthrown in Tacna, several uprisings took place. The most important of these is that of La Paz in which a civil-military junta was proclaimed. The junta was not recognized by any of the remaining Bolivian departments. For this reason, this period is regarded as the fourth period of nationwide lack of government lasting more than 24 hours. The junta lasted until 19 January 1880 when it dissolved itself and, by decree, designated Narciso Campero as president by proclamation of the Republic, this time accepted by the entire country.[38]
↑ Pacheco ran for president on the Democratic Party ticket. To secure support from in the Congressional ballot, Pacheco and his electoral opponent Aniceto Arce formed the Conservative Party from their respective Democratic and Constitutional parties.
↑ The second vice presidency remains vacant due to the death of Juan Federico Zuazo before taking office.[114]
↑ Montes' term of office was extended by one year due to the death of the president-elect Fernando Eloy Guachalla before taking office.[120]
↑ Second vice president (1909–1913); first vice president (1913–1915). Died in office of natural causes.[108][2]
↑ On 2 February 1921, the National Convention elected Luis Paz vice president, who, having not been consulted, resigned on 29 March before taking office.[132][133][134]
↑ Siles Reyes was elected president on the Republican Party ticket. His policy priorities as president soon proved to be opposed to most of the Republican agenda, and he formed the National Union Party in early 1927, later rebranded as the Nationalist Party.[138]
↑ On 28 June 1930, Vega resigned from the full cabinet but remained part of the council of ministers.[141]
↑ According to the Constitution, Siles Reyes, upon resigning, was required to hand over command to the vice president (absent). By order of institutional succession, command successively corresponded to the presidents of the Senate, of the Chamber of Deputies, or of the Supreme Court. By handing over the command to the Council of Ministers, it takes away the constitutional validity of the new administration.[97]
↑ The "Statute of Government" of 29 June 1930, which served as the organising charter of the junta, did not specify a chairman; but did institute a council of ministers, consisting of all the members of the junta, with Carlos Blanco Galindo as president of the council, without portfolio.[145]
↑ On 28 November, Tejada Sorzano became acting president in the absence of Salamanca who had been arrested at Villamontes.[151] It was not until 1 December when Salamanca's resignation was delivered that Tejada Sorzano officially assumed the presidency.[152]
↑ Upon assuming office, an attempt was made to give Tejada Sorzano a veneer of legality through the guise of constitutional succession to what in reality was a coup d'état.[97] Though his capacity as vice president made him constitutionally capable of succeeding to office, the circumstances make his a de facto government.[154] Despite this, official records of the time refer to him as the Constitutional President of the Republic.[152]
1 2 3 4 In the case of the denominated periods of military nationalism/socialism, the definition can not be said to be exact, although it is evident that it includes a phenomenon of left-wing governments of a military nature. The government of Gulaberto Villarroel is also included in this group, which appears under the RADEPA moniker. The word "nationalism" has been used especially since 1964 by practically all military governments, although its meaning in the cases not mentioned by this note has not had either the content or governing sense of the governments listed.[157]
↑ From 21 June 1936, the civil-military government is terminated and the Government Junta modified into the Military Government Junta.[158]
↑ Busch enacted a coup d'état which overthrew Toro but not the government junta over which he presided.[161]
↑ The junta undergoes several modifications under Busch's mandate. Only the original composition is represented here.[161]
↑ While Baldivieso remained active in government after 24 April 1939, no "vice dictator" position ever existed and Busch's self-coup effectively annulled the vice president's term in office.[167][168]
↑ Assassinated 21 July 1946; see 1946 La Paz riots for further details.[2] Villarroel presented his resignation hours prior to being victimized.[175]
↑ Villarroel resigned in favor of General Dámaso Arenas, then commander-in-chief of the armed forces. There is no record that Arenas was ever sworn-in as president.[5]
↑ The junta was modified on three occasions: On 21 July, it was formed from the magistrates of the Superior Court of Justice of the Judicial District of La Paz. On 22 July, participation in the junta was extended to other sectors and its membership reduced. Finally on 24 July, representatives of the labor, student, and teaching sectors entered.[162]
1 2 Hertzog transferred executive functions to Urriolagoitía on 7 May 1949.[184] He definitively resigned on 22 October.[185] Urriolagoitía maintained acting functions until his swearing-in on 24 October.[167]
↑ When the presidency was handed over to Víctor Paz Estenssoro after the revolutionary triumph, an attempt was made to validate the electoral victory of the MNR in 1951 (popular vote plurality). Legally it is not possible to subjectively and retroactively apply an action concluded in May 1951. For this reason this government is considered de facto.[97] Despite this, official records of the time refer to him as the Constitutional President of the Republic.
↑ On 4 November 1964, General Ovando Candía announced the formation of a military junta which he would head. However, "it was not at all clear who was in control" as both he and Barrientos vied for leadership of the government.[197] On 5 November, both were sworn-in as co-chairmen of the junta but Ovando Candía resigned an hour later.[5]
↑ On 26 May 1965, Barrientos designated Ovando Candía as co-president of the junta, a unique case in the history of Bolivia and the Americas. Both individuals held the executive simultaneously until 2 January 1966 when Barrientos resigned to qualify as a candidate in the 1966 general election.[161]
1 2 Occasionally styled "President of the Revolutionary Government".[207][208]
↑ After the resignation of Ovando Candía, "the official spokesman for the movement headed by Miranda [...] released a statement indicating that the Army commander headed the Military Government Junta". Despite the proclamation, he renounced the position in favor of a military junta. Having never been sworn-in, he thus isn't considered to have officially taken office.[209]
↑ The overthrown government continued in dissidence until 16 November.[218]
1 2 In the case of Wálter Guevara and Lidia Gueiler, they were erroneously referred to as acting when in fact they had a provisional character.[97]
↑ The severe economic crisis during the term of Siles Zuazo forced the president to advance the call for elections by one year and consequently reduce his term of office by one year from four that began in 1982.[230][231]
↑ In July 1980, a coup d'état annulled the results of that year's general elections. In 1982 the military, pressured by the demands of various sectors of the country, opted not to hold new elections and instead summoned the Congress elected in 1980 which elected Siles Zuazo from among the three most voted candidates.[94]
↑ Paz Zamora contested the 1989 election with Gustavo Fernández Saavedra as his running mate. However, in order to secure the support of the ADN in the congressional ballot, the MIR agreed to exchange Fernández Saavedra with Hugo Banzer's running mate Luis Ossio.[237]
↑ Morales and the Movement for Socialism maintain that he was ousted by a coup d'état.[247]
↑ Áñez, second vice president of the Senate, first proclaimed herself president of the Upper House, in the absence of the head of the body and the first vice president before moments later using that position as a basis to claim constitutional succession to the presidency.[251]
↑ The Movement for Socialism maintains that the presidency of Jeanine Áñez was unconstitutional and a de facto government.[254]
↑ "La junta de gobierno de 1920–1921". educa.com.bo (in Spanish). 18 November 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2021. A couple of days later, Luis Paz was elected vice president, who, annoyed, alleging that he had not been consulted to run, resigned before taking office.
↑ Padilla, Abdel (20 August 2021). "Cuando agosto era 21". Página Siete (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2021. On Sunday, 22 August, at 4:15 p.m., Hugo Banzer is sworn-in as president in the corridors of the Government Palace.
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