President is a common title for the head of state in most republics. Depending on the country, a president could be head of government, a ceremonial figurehead, or something between these two extremes.
The functions exercised by a president vary according to the form of government. In parliamentary republics, they are usually, but not always, limited to those of the head of state and are thus largely ceremonial. An exception to this would be presidential-parliamentary republics (e.g. Botswana[1] and South Africa[2]), the role of the president is more prominent, encompassing more of the functions of a head of government.[3] In semi-presidential republics, the president has some discretionary powers like over foreign affairs, appointment of the head of government and defence, but they are not themselves head of government.[3] A leader of a one-party state may also hold the position of president for ceremonial purposes or to maintain an official state position.[4]
The title "Mr. President"[5][6] may apply to a person holding the title of president or presiding over certain other governmental bodies.[7] "Mr. President" has subsequently been used by governments to refer to their heads of state. It is the conventional translation of non-English titles such as Monsieur le Président for the president of the French Republic. It also has a long history of usage as the title of the presiding officers of legislative and judicial bodies. The speaker of the House of Commons of Canada is addressed as président de la Chambre des communes in French and as Mr. Speaker in English.
History
The title president is derived from the Latinprae- "before" + sedere "to sit". The word "presidents" is also used in the King James Bible at Daniel 6:2 to translate the Aramaic term סָרְכִ֣ין (sā·rə·ḵîn), a word of likely Persian origin, meaning "officials", "commissioners", "overseers" or "chiefs". As such, it originally designated the officer who presides over or "sits before" a gathering and ensures that debate is conducted according to the rules of order (see alsochairman and speaker), but today it most commonly refers to an executive official in any social organization. Early examples are from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (from 1464) and the founding president of the Royal Society, William Brouncker, in 1660. This usage survives today in the title of such offices as "President of the Board of Trade" and "Lord President of the Council" in the United Kingdom, as well as "President of the Senate" in the United States (one of the roles constitutionally assigned to the vice president). The officiating priest at certain Anglican religious services, too, is sometimes called the "president" in this sense.
The most common modern usage is as the title of a head of state in a republic. The first usage of the word president to denote the highest official in a government was during the Commonwealth of England.
After the abolition of the monarchy, the English Council of State, whose members were elected by the House of Commons, became the executive government of the Commonwealth. The Council of State was the successor of the Privy Council, which had previously been headed by the lord president; its successor the Council of State was also headed by a lord president, the first of which was John Bradshaw. However, the lord president alone was not head of state, because that office was vested in the council as a whole.
In pre-revolutionary France, the president of a Parlement evolved into a powerful magistrate, a member of the so-called noblesse de robe ("nobility of the gown"), with considerable judicial as well as administrative authority. The name referred to his primary role of presiding over trials and other hearings. In the 17th and 18th centuries, seats in the Parlements, including presidencies, became effectively hereditary, since the holder of the office could ensure that it would pass to an heir by paying the crown a special tax known as the paulette. The post of "first president" (premier président), however, could be held by only the King's nominees. The Parlements were abolished by the French Revolution. In modern France the chief judge of a court is known as its president (président de la cour).
By the 18th century, the president of a Frenchparlement was addressed as "Monsieur le Président". In Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ("Dangerous Liaisons"), the wife of a magistrate in a parlement is referred to as Madame la Présidente de Tourvel ("Madam President of Tourvel"). The fictional name Tourvel refers not to the parlement in which the magistrate sits, but rather, in imitation of an aristocratic title, to his private estate. This influenced parliamentary usage in France. When the Second French Republic was established in 1848, "Monsieur le Président" became the title of the president of the French Republic.
The modern usage of the term president to designate a single person who is the head of state of a republic can be traced directly to the United States Constitution of 1787, which created the office of President of the United States. Previous American governments had included "presidents" (such as the president of the Continental Congress or the president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress), but these were presiding officers in the older sense, with no executive authority. It has been suggested that the executive use of the term was borrowed from early American colleges and universities, which were usually headed by a president. British universities were headed by an official called the "Chancellor" (typically a ceremonial position) while the chief administrator held the title of "Vice-Chancellor". But America's first institutions of higher learning (such as Harvard University and Yale University) did not resemble a full-sized university so much as one of its constituent colleges. A number of colleges at Cambridge University featured an official called the "president". The head, for instance, of Magdalene College, Cambridge was called the master and his second the president. The first president of Harvard, Henry Dunster, had been educated at Magdalene. Some have speculated that he borrowed the term out of a sense of humility, considering himself only a temporary placeholder. The presiding official of Yale College, originally a "rector" (after the usage of continental European universities), became "president" in 1745.
A common style of address for presidents, "Mr/Mrs. President", is borrowed from British Parliamentary tradition, in which the presiding Speaker of the House of Commons is referred to as "Mr/Mrs. Speaker". Coincidentally, this usage resembles the older French custom of referring to the president of a parlement as "Monsieur/Madame le Président", a form of address that in modern France applies to both the president of the Republic and to chief judges. In the United States, the title "Mr. President" is used in a number of formal instances as well: for example anyone presiding over the United States Senate is addressed as "Mr./Madam President", especially the vice president, who is the president of the Senate. Other uses of the title include presidents of state and local legislatures; however, only the president of the United States uses the title outside of formal sessions.
The 1787 Constitution of the United States did not specify the manner of address for the president. When George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789, however, the administering of the oath of office ended with the proclamation: "Long live George Washington, President of the United States."[10] No title other than the name of the office of the executive was officially used at the inauguration. The question of a presidential title was being debated in Congress at the time, however, having become official legislative business with Richard Henry Lee's motion of April 23, 1789. Lee's motion asked Congress to consider "what titles it will be proper to annex to the offices of President and Vice President of the United States–if any other than those given in the Constitution".[11] Vice President John Adams, in his role as President of the United States Senate, organized a congressional committee. There Adams agitated for the adoption of the style of Highness (as well as the title of Protector of Their [the United States'] Liberties) for the president.[12] Adams and Lee were among the most outspoken proponents of an exalted presidential title.[11]
Others favored the variant of Electoral Highness or the lesser Excellency, the latter of which was vociferously opposed by Adams, who contended that it was far beneath the presidential dignity, as the executives of the states, some of which were also titled "President" (e.g. the president of Pennsylvania), at that time often enjoyed the style of Excellency; Adams said the president "would be leveled with colonial governors or with functionaries from German princedoms" if he were to use the style of Excellency. Adams and Richard Henry Lee both feared that cabals of powerful senators would unduly influence a weak executive, and saw an exalted title as a way of strengthening the presidency.[13] On further consideration, Adams deemed even Highness insufficient and instead proposed that the executive, both the president and the vice president (i.e., himself), be styled Majesty to prevent the "great danger" of an executive with insufficient dignity.[12] Adams' efforts were met with widespread derision; Thomas Jefferson called them "the most superlatively ridiculous thing I ever heard of", while Benjamin Franklin considered it "absolutely mad".[12]
Washington consented to the demands of James Madison and the United States House of Representatives that the title be altered to "Mr. President".[14][15][16][17] Nonetheless, later "The Honorable" became the standard title of the President in formal address, and "His/Her Excellency" became the title of the president when addressed formally internationally.
Historically, the title was reserved for the incumbent president only, and was not to be used for former presidents, holding that it was not proper to use the title as a courtesy title when addressing a former president.[18][19][20][21][22] According to the official website of the United States of America, the correct way to address a letter is to use "The Honorable John Doe" and the correct salutation is "Mr. Doe".[23]
Once the United States adopted the title of "president" for its head of state, many other nations followed suit.
Other countries
Prabowo Subianto, the eighth president of Indonesia, is the democratically elected president with the largest popular vote in the world.
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the powers of presidencies have varied from country to country. The spectrum of power has included presidents-for-life and hereditary presidencies to ceremonial heads of state.
Presidents in the countries with a democratic or representative form of government are usually elected for a specified period of time and in some cases may be re-elected by the same process by which they are appointed, i.e. in many nations, periodic popular elections. The powers vested in such presidents vary considerably. Some presidencies, such as that of Ireland, are largely ceremonial, whereas other systems vest the president with substantive powers such as the appointment and dismissal of prime ministers or cabinets, the power to declare war, and powers of veto on legislation. In many nations the president is also the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, though this varies significantly around the world.
The roles of the President, regardless of the government system, are fundamentally defined by the tension between two distinct constitutional and political functions: the Head of State and the Head of Government. The way a nation’s constitution delegates or separates these two roles determines the institutional power, stability, and political dynamics of the executive branch.[26]
In almost all states with a presidential system of government, the president exercises the functions of head of state and head of government, i.e. the president directs the executive branch of government. When a president is not only head of state, but also head of government, this is known in Europe as a President of the Council (from the French Président du Conseil), used 1871–1940 and 1944–1958 in the Third and Fourth French Republics. In the United States the president has always been both Head of State and Head of Government and has always had the title of President.
In pure presidential systems, such as the United States, the president simultaneously holds both the ceremonial role of the head of state and the political role of the head of government. This unified presidency provides strong, decisive leadership but is prone to inherent tension and structural conflict.[27]
Presidents in this system are either directly elected by popular vote or indirectly elected by an electoral college or some other democratically elected body.
In the United States, the president is indirectly elected by the Electoral College made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In most states of the United States, each elector is committed to voting for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state, so that the people, in voting for each elector, are in effect voting for the candidate. However, for various reasons the numbers of electors in favour of each candidate are unlikely to be proportional to the popular vote. Thus, in five close United States elections (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016), the candidate with the most popular votes still lost the election.
Presidents Otunbayeva (left) and Putin (right) of Kyrgyzstan and Russia
In Mexico, the president is directly elected for a six-year term by popular vote. The candidate who wins the most votes is elected president even without an absolute majority. The president is allowed to serve only one term.
In Brazil, the president is directly elected for a four-year term by popular vote. A candidate has to have more than 50% of the valid votes. If no candidates achieve a majority of the votes, there is a runoff election between the two candidates with most votes. Again, a candidate needs a majority of the vote to be elected. In Brazil, a president cannot be elected to more than two consecutive terms, but there is no limit on the number of terms a president can serve.
Presidents al-Sharaa (left) of Syria and Trump (right) of the United States.
The core challenge of the unified presidency is that the President must act as a partisan political leader to achieve their policy goals (head of government), yet simultaneously serve as a unifying, supra-partisan national symbol (head of state).
When a U.S. President champions controversial legislation or vetoes bills, they fulfill their duty as the head of government. However, these partisan actions inevitably alienate the opposition, making it extremely difficult to retain the moral and symbolic authority needed for the head of state role. This role conflict often fuels political polarization, forcing the President to choose between being an effective political leader and a respected national symbol.
The use of executive orders illustrates this tension perfectly. These are unilateral powers used by the head of government to manage the administrative state. When a President uses them to enact sweeping policy changes that bypass the legislature, opponents frequently accuse them of abusing their political power, thereby undermining the President's perceived legitimacy as the impartial head of state who upholds constitutional norms.
Linz’s Dual Legitimacy: This institutional design also connects to Juan Linz’s theory of Dual Legitimacy. The conflict between the President (head of government with a popular mandate) and the Congress (head of state with a popular mandate) in a divided government (like South Korea's ‘Divided Government' situation) is a direct manifestation of this structural tension, where the fixed term rigidity prevents easy resolution of the conflict between the two branches claiming equal democratic legitimacy. For example, In South Korea, president Yoon has vetoed 18 times in 2024 year alone and 25 times since taking office. This is the second record in history after former President Seungman Lee.[28]
A second system is the semi-presidential system, also known as the French model. In this system, as in the parliamentary system, there are both a president and a prime minister; but unlike the parliamentary system, the president may have significant day-to-day power. For example, in France, when their party controls the majority of seats in the National Assembly, the president can operate closely with the parliament and prime minister, and work towards a common agenda. When the National Assembly is controlled by their opponents, however, the president can find themselves marginalized with the opposition party prime minister exercising most of the power. Though the prime minister remains an appointee of the president, the president must obey the rules of parliament, and select a leader from the house's majority holding party. Thus, sometimes the president and prime minister can be allies, sometimes rivals; the latter situation is known in France as cohabitation. Variants of the French semi-presidential system, developed at the beginning of the Fifth Republic by Charles de Gaulle, are used in France, Portugal, Romania, Sri Lanka and several post-colonial countries which have emulated the French model. In Finland, although the 2000 constitution moved towards a ceremonial presidency, the system is still formally semi-presidential, with the president of Finland retaining e.g. foreign policy and appointment powers. Sri Lanka, formerly the Dominion of Ceylon, declared itself a Republic in 1972. It introduced a Westminster style Parliamentary system, with William Gopallawa as the nominal Head of State, styled as the President. In 1978, J. R. Jayawardene Introduced the 2nd Republican Constitution with a Semi-Presidential System.
The semi-presidential system (Dual-Executive or Premier-Presidential system), most famously established in the French Fifth Republic, offers a model where the dual roles are not fully separated, but rather institutionally shared between two positions: the president and the prime minister. This system explicitly formalizes the dual-executive structure.
The president, popularly elected, serves as the primary head of state but retains significant head of government powers, particularly over foreign policy and national defense (the domaine réservé). The prime minister, who must command the confidence of the National Assembly, focuses on domestic policy and administration, serving as the functional head of government. The political function of the dual roles becomes most evident during "cohabitation." This occurs when the president and the parliamentary majority belong to different political parties. In this scenario:
The first time a French President and Prime Minister were from different political parties was called cohabitation, happening from 1986 to 1988. The Socialist President, François Mitterrand, had to pick a conservative, Jacques Chirac, as his prime minister because conservatives won the most seats in parliament. Chirac took full control of domestic policy, like selling off state-owned companies (privatization). This showed he was in charge of the head of government role. Mitterrand mainly focused on being the head of state, keeping control over foreign policy and the military. This situation proved that even with a strong president, the system could shift power based on election results, making the president share his executive duties.[29]
In many parliamentary republics, the dual roles are completely and constitutionally separated, leaving the president with only the head of state functions.
This radical separation ensures that the president can fulfill the unifying, supra-partisan role of the head of state without interference from the day-to-day political conflicts of the government. By eliminating the political component of the executive role, the office avoids the internal conflicts faced by the unified presidency.
In these systems, the prime minister (or Chancellor) is the undisputed and sole head of government. Their power is entirely political, derived from and accountable to the legislature through a continuous mechanism of confidence (or no-confidence). The German president is a purely ceremonial head of state, lacking the head of governmentauthority held by the Chancellor. This was clear in 2017 when coalition talks collapsed.[31] President Frank-Walter Steinmeier did not impose policy or force a solution. Instead, he used his impartial authority and constitutional duty to facilitate dialogue among party leaders. His role was strictly limited to safeguarding the constitutional order and enabling the political process to form the new government, demonstrating the power of a non-partisan symbol.
Dictatorships
Suharto (left), Idi Amin (center), and Saddam Hussein (right) are examples of dictatorial leaders who used the title "President".
The Co-presidency of Nicaragua, since 2025 the headship of state and government is shared between two co-presidents with equal powers, by constitution a male and a female.
Between 1982 and 2019, the Chinese constitution stipulated that the president could not serve more than two consecutive terms. During the Mao era, as well as since March 2018, there were no term limits attached to this office. Under Xi Jinping's administration, the term limits of the presidency were abolished, but its powers and ceremonial role remained unchanged.[32] In March 2023, Xi secured an unprecedented third term as president.
Lao People's Democratic Republic
In Laos, which is a one-party state similar to that of China, the president is elected by the Laotian National Assembly, and is considered to be the head of state. Since 1998, however, presidential officeholders in Laos often occupy their position as General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party concurrently, and thus exercise political power via that role. In accordance with the current Laotian Constitution(rev. in 2015), the president may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms, and elections are to take place every 5 years.[33][34]
The president is elected by representatives within Cuba's parliament, the National Assembly of People's Power, and in accordance with the Cuban Constitution, which was rewritten in February 2019 following a national referendum, is limited to two consecutive five-year terms. The president is also considered to be responsible for the National Assembly. The current president was elected by the National Assembly in December 2019 with an almost unanimous vote, and was re-elected in a similar fashion in April 2023.[36][37][38]
Presidential symbols
As the country's head of state, in most countries the president is entitled to certain perquisites, and may have a prestigious residence, often a lavish mansion or palace, sometimes more than one (e.g. summer and winter residences, or a country retreat) Customary symbols of office may include an official uniform, decorations, a presidential seal, coat of arms, flag and other visible accessories, as well as military honours such as gun salutes, ruffles and flourishes, and a presidential guard. A common presidential symbol is the presidential sash worn most often by presidents in Latin America and Africa as a symbol of the continuity of the office.[39]
President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea giving a press briefing in the capital Asmara, 2002
As head of government
Some countries with parliamentary systems use a term meaning/translating as "president" (in some languages indistinguishable from chairman) for the head of parliamentary government, often as President of the Government, President of the Council of Ministers or President of the Executive Council.
However, such an official is explicitly not the president of the country. These officials are called "president" using an older sense of the word, to denote the fact that the official heads the cabinet. A separate head of state generally exists in their country who instead serves as the president or monarch of the country.
Thus, such officials are really premiers, and to avoid confusion are often described simply as 'prime minister' when being mentioned internationally.
There are several examples for this kind of presidency:
The prime minister of Spain is officially referred to as the president of the Government of Spain, and informally known as the "president". Spain is also a kingdom with a reigning king.
From 1963 until 1992, the head of government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the president of the Federal Executive Council after the 1963 Constitution abolished the office of Prime Minister of Yugoslavia and transferred its functions to the president of the Federal Executive Council. Despite this, foreign media sources continued to refer to individuals holding the office of President of the Federal Executive Council as being the "Prime Minister of Yugoslavia".
The official title of the Croatian prime minister is President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Predsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske).
In British constitutional practice, the chairman of an Executive Council, acting in such a capacity, is known as a president of the Executive Council. Usually this person is the Governor and it always stays like that.
Between 1918 and 1934, Estonia had no separate head of state. Both prime ministers (1918–1920) and state elders (1920–1934) often translated as "presidents") were elected by the parliament.
The head of government of Iran is styled as the "president". The Iranian head of state is the supreme leader, to whom the president is subordinate.
In Poland, the president of the city (Polish: Prezydent miasta) is the executive authority of the municipality elected in direct elections, the equivalent of the mayor. The Office of the President (Mayor) is also found in Germany and Switzerland.
Russia
Governors of ethnic republics in the Russian Federation used to have the title of President, occasionally alongside other, secondary titles such as Chairman of the Government (also used by Prime Minister of Russia). This likely reflects the origin of Russian republics as homelands for various ethnic groups: while all federal subjects of Russia are currently de jureequal, their predecessors, the ASSRs, used to enjoy more privileges than the ordinary krais and oblasts of the RSFSR (such as greater representation in the Soviet of Nationalities). Thus, the ASSRs and their eventual successors would have more in common with nation-states than with ordinary administrative divisions, at least in spirit, and would choose titles accordingly.[citation needed]
In Spain, the executive leaders of the autonomous communities (regions) are called presidents. In each community, they can be called Presidente de la Comunidad or Presidente del Consejo among others. They are elected by their respective regional assemblies and have similar powers to a state president or governor.
Deputies
Below a president, there can be a number of or "vice presidents" (or occasionally "deputy presidents") and sometimes several "assistant presidents" or "assistant vice presidents", depending on the organisation and its size. These posts do not hold the same power but more of a subordinate position to the president. However, power can be transferred in special circumstances to the deputy or vice president. Normally vice presidents hold some power and special responsibilities below that of the president. The difference between vice/deputy presidents and assistant/associate vice presidents is the former are legally allowed to run an organisation, exercising the same powers (as well as being second in command) whereas the latter are not.
Legislatures
In some countries the speaker of their unicameral legislatures, or of one or both houses of bicameral legislatures, the speakers have the title of president of "the body", as in the case of Spain, where the speaker of the Congress is the president of the Congress of Deputies and the Speaker of the Senate is the president of the Senate.
In French legal terminology, the president of a court consisting of multiple judges is the foremost judge; he chairs the meeting of the court and directs the debates (and is thus addressed as "Mrs President", "Madame la Présidente", "Mr President", or "Monsieur le Président"). In general, a court comprises several chambers, each with its own president; thus the most senior of these is called the "first president" (as in: "the First President of the Court of Cassation is the most senior judge in France"). Similarly in English legal practice the most senior judge in each division uses this title (e.g. President of the Family Division, President of the Court of Appeal).
Spain
In the Spanish Judiciary, the leader of a court of multiples judges is called President of the Court. The same happens with the different bodies of the Spanish judicial system, where we can find a president of the Supreme Court, a president of the National Court and presidents in the Regional High Courts of Justice and in the Provincial Courts. The body that rules over the Judiciary in Spain is the General Council of the Judiciary, and its president is the president of the Supreme Court, which is normally called President of the Supreme Court and of the GCJ.
Titles for a president's spouse, if female, have ranged from "Marquise" to "Lady" to simply "Mrs." (or "Ms.").[16] If male the title of the president's spouse may be "Marquis", "Lord", or merely "Mr.".
United States
President George Washington's wife, Martha Washington, was often called "Lady Washington". By the 1850s in the United States, the term "lady" had changed from a title of nobility to a term of address for a respected and well-mannered woman. The use of "First Lady" to refer to the wife of the president of the United States was popularized about the time of the US Civil War. Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison, was remembered after her death in 1849 by President Zachary Taylor as "truly our First Lady for a half a century".[40] First ladies are usually referred to simply as "Mrs. [last name]".[41]
↑ Keller, Kerrie (5 January 2013). "Addressing a Former President of the United States". The Emily Post Institute. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2013. When addressing a former President of the United States in a formal setting, the correct form is "Mr. LastName". ("President LastName" or "Mr. President" are terms reserved for the current head of state.)
↑ Emma J. Lapsansky-Werner and Margaret Hope Bacon, eds., Back to Africa: Benjamin Coates and the Colonization Movement in America: 1848–1880. State College PA: Pennsylvania State Press, 2010. 57–59. ISBN9780271045719 books.google.com/books?id=9X0rc6E9EGkC&pg=PA57
↑ But presidential moral suasion is increasingly confirming that the "neutral powers", in this country, often find in the head of state the best defender from executive interference: Buonomo, Giampiero (2014). "Autorità indipendenti e sistema costituzionale". L'Ago e Il Filo. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
↑ Johanna Hornung, Robin Rüsenberg, Florian Eckert, Nils C. Bandelow; New Insights into Coalition Negotiations—The Case of German Government Formation. Negotiation Journal 2020; 36 (3): 331–352. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12310
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