Contents
- List of officeholders
- Syria (1922–1958)
- United Arab Republic (1958–1961)
- Syria (1961–present)
- Timeline
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Bibliography
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This is a list of presidents of Syria since 1920.
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This is a list of presidents of Syria since 1920.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Note(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| Syrian Federation (under French mandate; 1922–1925) | |||||||||
| 1 |  | Subhi Bey Barakat صبحي بك بركات (1889–1939) | — | 29 June 1922 [1] | 1 January 1925 | 2 years, 185 days | Independent | ||
| State of Syria (under French mandate; 1925–1930) | |||||||||
| (1) | | Subhi Bey Barakat صبحي بك بركات (1889–1939) | — | 1 January 1925 | 21 December 1925 | 354 days | Independent | ||
| — |  | François Pierre-Alype فرانسوا بيير أليب (1886–1956) | — | 9 February 1926 | 28 April 1926 | 78 days | Independent | ||
| 2 |  | Ahmad Nami أحمد نامي (1873–1962) | — | 28 April 1926 | 15 February 1928 | 1 year, 293 days | Independent | ||
| — |  | Taj al-Din al-Hasani تاج الدين الحسني (1885–1943) | — | 15 February 1928 | 14 May 1930 | 2 years, 88 days | Independent | ||
| First Syrian Republic (1930–1950) | |||||||||
| Mandatory Syrian Republic (1930–1946) | |||||||||
| — | | Taj al-Din al-Hasani تاج الدين الحسني (1885–1943) | — | 14 May 1930 | 19 November 1931 | 1 year, 189 days | Independent | ||
| — |  | Léon Solomiac ليون سولومياك (1873–1960) | — | 19 November 1931 | 11 June 1932 | 205 days | Independent | ||
| 3 |  | Muhammad Ali Bey al-Abid محمد علي بك العابد (1867–1939) | — | 11 June 1932 | 21 December 1936 | 4 years, 193 days | Independent | ||
| 4 |  | Hashim al-Atassi هاشم الأتاسي (1875–1960) | — | 21 December 1936 | 7 July 1939 | 2 years, 198 days | National Bloc | ||
| 5 |  | Bahij al-Khatib بهيج الخطيب (1895–1981) | — | 10 July 1939 | 4 April 1941 | 1 year, 268 days | Independent | ||
| — |  | Khalid al-Azm خالد العظم (1903–1965) | — | 4 April 1941 | 16 September 1941 | 165 days | Independent | ||
| 6 | | Taj al-Din al-Hasani تاج الدين الحسني (1885–1943) | — | 16 September 1941 | 17 January 1943 | 1 year, 123 days | Independent | Hasani died in office. [2] | |
| — |  | Jamil al-Ulshi جميل الألشي (1883–1951) | — | 17 January 1943 | 25 March 1943 | 67 days | Independent | ||
| 7 |  | Ata Bey al-Ayyubi عطا الأيوبي (1877–1951) | — | 25 March 1943 | 17 August 1943 | 145 days | Independent | ||
| 8 |  | Shukri al-Quwatli شكري القوّتلي (1891–1967) | — | 17 August 1943 | 17 April 1946 | 2 years, 68 days | National Bloc | ||
| Independent First Syrian Republic (1946–1950) | |||||||||
| (8) | | Shukri al-Quwatli شكري القوّتلي (1891–1967) | — | 17 April 1946 | 29 March 1949 | 3 years, 156 days | National Bloc / National Party | Quwatli was ousted from power on 29 March 1949 by Husni al-Za'im, his Chief of Staff. [3] | |
| 9 |  | Husni al-Za'im حسني الزعيم (1897–1949) | 1949 | 30 March 1949 | 14 August 1949 | 137 days | Syrian Social Nationalist Party | Za'im was overthrown by a military coup in 1949 led by Adib Shishakli, and he was later executed on the orders of the new government. [4] | |
| 10 |  | Sami al-Hinnawi سامي الحناوي (1898–1950) | — | 14 August 1949 | 15 August 1949 | 1 day | Military | ||
| 11 (4) | | Hashim al-Atassi هاشم الأتاسي (1875–1960) | — | 15 August 1949 | 5 September 1950 | 1 year, 21 days | People's Party | ||
| Second Syrian Republic (1950–1958) | |||||||||
| (11) (4) | | Hashim al-Atassi هاشم الأتاسي (1875–1960) | — | 5 September 1950 | 2 December 1951 | 1 year, 88 days | People's Party | ||
| — |  | Adib Shishakli أديب الشيشكلي (1909–1964) | — | 2 December 1951 | 3 December 1951 | 1 day | Syrian Social Nationalist Party | ||
| 12 |  | Fawzi Selu فوزي سلو (1905–1972) | — | 3 December 1951 | 11 July 1953 | 1 year, 220 days | Military | ||
| 13 | | Adib Shishakli أديب الشيشكلي (1909–1964) | 1953 | 11 July 1953 | 25 February 1954 | 229 days | Arab Liberation Movement | Shishakli resigned from office because of threats of a coup in 1954. [5] He fled the country, claiming that he did not want the country to fall into a civil war. [5] | |
| — |  | Maamun al-Kuzbari مأمون الكزبري (1914–1998) | — | 25 February 1954 | 28 February 1954 | 3 days | Independent | ||
| 14 (4) (11) | | Hashim al-Atassi هاشم الأتاسي (1875–1960) | — | 28 February 1954 | 6 September 1955 | 1 year, 190 days | People's Party | ||
| 15 (8) | | Shukri al-Quwatli شكري القوّتلي (1891–1967) | — | 6 September 1955 | 22 February 1958 | 2 years, 169 days | National Party | ||
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 |  | Gamal Abdel Nasser جمال عبد الناصر (1918–1970) | 1958 | 22 February 1958 | 29 September 1961 | 3 years, 219 days | National Union | |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Note(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| Second Syrian Republic (Syrian Arab Republic; 1961–1963) | |||||||||
| — | | Maamun al-Kuzbari مأمون الكزبري (1914–1998) | — | 29 September 1961 | 20 November 1961 | 52 days | Independent | Kuzbari took office following the 1961 coup d'état, which dissolved the United Arab Republic. | |
| — |  | Izzat al-Nuss عزت النص (1912–1976) [6] | — | 20 November 1961 | 14 December 1961 | 24 days | Military | ||
| 1 |  | Nazim al-Qudsi ناظم القدسي (1906–1998) | — | 14 December 1961 | 8 March 1963 | 1 year, 84 days | People's Party | The 1963 coup d'état, an event known as the 8th of March Revolution, toppled Qudsi and brought the National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) to government, although real power lay with the Ba'athist Military Committee, which organized the coup. [7] | |
| Ba'athist Syria (Syrian Arab Republic; 1963–2024) | |||||||||
| 2 |  | Lu'ay al-Atassi لؤي الأتاسي (1926–2003) | — | 9 March 1963 | 27 July 1963 | 140 days | Independent | Atassi was appointed president by the NCRC because he posed no threat to the Military Committee's power. [8] He resigned after high-ranking non-Ba'athist officers were purged. [9] | |
| 3 |  | Amin al-Hafiz أمين الحافظ (1921–2009) | — | 27 July 1963 | 23 February 1966 | 2 years, 211 days | Ba'ath Party (Syria Region) | Hafiz was overthrown by the Military Committee because of his support for Michel Aflaq and the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. [10] | |
| 4 |  | Nureddin al-Atassi نور الدين الأتاسي (1929–1992) | — | 25 February 1966 | 18 November 1970 | 4 years, 266 days | Syrian Ba'ath Party (Syria Region) | Atassi was overthrown when a falling out occurred between Salah Jadid, the real ruler of Syria from 1966 to 1970, and Hafez al-Assad, the Minister of Defense. [11] Assad initiated a coup in 1970, known as the Corrective Movement. [12] | |
| — |  | Ahmad al-Khatib أحمد الخطيب (1933–1982) | — | 18 November 1970 | 22 February 1971 | 96 days | Syrian Ba'ath Party (Syria Region) | ||
| 5 |  | Hafez al-Assad حافظ الأسد (1930–2000) | 1971 1978 1985 1991 1999 | 22 February 1971 | 10 June 2000 | 29 years, 109 days | Syrian Ba'ath Party (Syria Region) | Assad died in office. [13] | |
| — |  | Abdul Halim Khaddam عبدالحليم خدام (1932–2020) | — | 10 June 2000 | 17 July 2000 | 37 days | Syrian Ba'ath Party (Syria Region) | Khaddam consitutionally succeeded from the vice presidency, and served on an acting basis until the new confirmative referendum. | |
| 6 |  | Bashar al-Assad بَشَّارُ ٱلْأَسَدِ (born 1965) | 2000 2007 2014 2021 | 17 July 2000 | 8 December 2024 | 24 years, 144 days | Syrian Ba'ath Party (Syria Region) | Assad resigned from office, [14] and the regime was subsequently overthrown during the fall of Damascus in the Syrian civil war. [15] | |
Hafez al-Assad was a Syrian politician and military officer who served as the 18th president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He had previously served as prime minister of Syria from 1970 to 1971 as well as regional secretary of the regional command of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and secretary general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1970 to 2000. Hafez al-Assad was a key participant in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power in the country, a power that lasted until the fall of the regime in 2024, then led by his son Bashar.
Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he is considered by several Ba'athists to be the principal founder of Ba'athist thought. He published various books during his lifetime, such as The Road to Renaissance (1940), The Battle for One Destiny (1958) and The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution (1975).
Salah Jadid was a Syrian military officer and politician who was the leader of the far-left bloc of the Syrian Regional Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the country's de facto leader from 1966 until 1970, when he was ousted by Hafez al-Assad's Corrective Movement.
Salah al-Din al-Bitar was a Syrian politician who co-founded the Baʿath Party with Michel Aflaq in the early 1940s. As students in Paris in the early 1930s, the two formulated a doctrine that combined aspects of nationalism and socialism. Bitar later served as prime minister in several early Ba'athist governments in Syria but became alienated from the party as it grew more radical. In 1966 he fled the country, lived mostly in Europe and remained politically active until he was assassinated in Paris in 1980 by unidentified hitmen linked to the regime of Hafez al-Assad.
The 1966 Syrian coup d'état refers to events between 21 and 23 February during which the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was overthrown and replaced. The ruling National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party were removed from power by a union of the party's Military Committee and the Regional Command, under the leadership of Salah Jadid.
The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, referred to by the Syrian government as the March 8 Revolution, was the seizure of power in Syria by the military committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The planning and the unfolding conspiracy of the Syrian Ba'athist operatives were prompted by the Ba'ath party's seizure of power in Iraq in February 1963.
The Corrective Movement, also referred to as the Corrective Revolution or the 1970 coup, was a bloodless military coup d'état led by General Hafez al-Assad on 13 November 1970 in Syria. Assad proclaimed to sustain and improve the "nationalist socialist line" of the state and the Ba'ath party. The Ba'ath party adopted an ideological revision, absolving itself of Salah Jadid's doctrine of exporting revolutions. The new doctrine placed emphasis on defeating Israel, by developing the Syrian military with the support of the Soviet Union.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, officially the Syrian Regional Branch, was a neo-Ba'athist organisation founded on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and followers of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party ruled Syria from the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Ba'athists to power, until 8 December 2024, when Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus in the face of a rebel offensive during the Syrian Civil War. The party suspended all activities on 11 December 2024 until further notice.
Munif al-Razzaz was a Jordanian-Syrian physician and politician who was the second, and last, Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, having been elected to the post at the 8th National Congress held in April 1965.
Mansur al-Atrash was a Syrian politician and journalist. Together with fellow university students, Atrash became a founding member of the Ba'ath Party and its Syrian regional branch in 1947. During the presidency of Adib Shishakli (1951–54), he became an anti-government activist and was imprisoned twice, only to be released in an unsuccessful attempt by Shishakli to gain the support of Atrash's father, Sultan. In the year Shishakli was overthrown, Atrash was elected to parliament and turned down an offer to serve in Said al-Ghazzi's government. During the period of the United Arab Republic (1958–61), Atrash became a strong supporter of Egyptian president and pan-Arab leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. He opposed Syria's secession from the UAR and turned down offers to serve in successive separatist governments in protest.
Major General Muhammad Umran was a Syrian military officer and founding member of the Military Committee of the unitary Ba'ath Party. He was a leading figure in Syrian politics from the 1963 Syrian coup d'état until the 1966 coup d'état.
Abd al-Karim al-Jundi was a Syrian military officer and founding member of the Ba'ath Party's Military Committee which took over power in the country after the 1963 military coup. He also served as Minister of Agrarian Reform, and Director of the National Security Bureau.
Jassem Alwan was a prominent Syrian Army colonel, particularly during the period of the United Arab Republic (UAR) (1958–1961) when he served as the Commander of the Qatana Base near Damascus. Alwan, a staunch supporter of UAR President Gamal Abdel Nasser, opposed Syria's secession from the union in 1961, leading two failed coup attempts to overthrow the secessionist government in 1962.
The Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which was established through the merger of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 2018, was the ruling organ of the Ba'ath Party organization in Syria and the Syrian-led Ba'athist movement. Its predecessor, the Regional Command, stems from Ba'athist ideology, where region literally means an Arab state. Until 2012, according to the Constitution of Syria, the Central Command had the power to nominate a candidate for President. While the constitution does not state that the Secretary-General of the Central Command is the President of Syria, the charter of the National Progressive Front (NPF), of which the Ba'ath Party is a member, states that the President and the Secretary-General is the NPF President, but this is not stated in any legal document.
Mohammed Ziad al-Hariri is a former prominent Syrian Army officer. A staunch Arab nationalist, he supported the union between Syria and Egypt in 1958, opposed Syria's secession from it in 1961 and served as the chief leader of the coup d'état that toppled the secessionist government in March 1963. Politically independent from the Nasserists and their Ba'athist rivals, Hariri served as the army's chief of staff following the coup and was briefly defense minister until being dismissed during a wide-scale purge of non-Ba'athists from the military. He retired from political activity soon afterward.
Muhammad al-Sufi was a Syrian field marshal who played a role in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état and briefly served as Defense Minister between March and May of that year. Politically a Nasserist, he was sidelined by Ba'athist rivals in the military and departed the political scene before returning to Syria in the 1990s.
Salim Hatum was a Syrian military officer and politician who played a significant role in Syrian politics in the 1960s. A member of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, he was instrumental in the 1966 Syrian coup d'état that toppled the government of Amin al-Hafiz, also a Ba'athist. That same year he launched an insurrection from his home region of Jabal al-Druze against his colleagues who formed the new government but sidelined him from any major position. He fled Syria amid a warrant for his arrest, but returned in 1967 and was subsequently jailed and executed.
This article details the history of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces was the professional head of the Syrian Armed Forces and the Syrian Army. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President of Syria, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.
| Syrian Federation (1922–1924) |  |
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| State of Syria (1925–1930) | |
| First Syrian Republic (1930–1950) |  |
| Second Syrian Republic (1950–1958) | |
| United Arab Republic (1958–1961) |  |
| Second Syrian Republic (1961–1963) | |
| Ba'athist Syria (1963–2024) |  |
* acting | |