President for life

President for life is a title assumed by or granted to some presidents to extend their tenure up until their death or retirement. 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 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.

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

Autocracy

A president for life may be regarded as a de facto autocrat.^[1][2]

Many leaders who proclaimed themselves president for life have not in fact successfully gone on to serve a life term. Most were deposed before they died, and others achieved 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 and François Duvalier of Haiti, Rafael Carrera of Guatemala, 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.^[3]

Some long-serving autocratic 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 which guaranteed them re-election.^[4][5][6]

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
	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 (1767–1820)	Haiti	President for Life of Haiti (Northern)	1807	1811	Became King 1811, committed suicide while reigning 1820.
	José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (1766–1840)	Paraguay	Perpetual Supreme Dictator of Paraguay	1816	1840	Died in office 1840.
	Alexandre Pétion (1770–1818)	Haiti	President for Life of Haiti (Southern)	1816	1818	Died in office 1818.
	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 López de Santa Anna (1794–1876)	Mexico (Second Federal Republic)	President for Life of Mexico	1853	1855	Resigned 1855, died 1876.
	Rafael Carrera (1814–1865)	Guatemala	President for Life of Guatemala	1854	1865	Died in office 1865.
	Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)	Germany (Third Reich)	Chancellor and Führer for life	1934	1945	Committed suicide in office 1945.
	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.[7]
	Malietoa Tanumafili II (1913–2007)				2007	Died in office 2007, elected to serve alongside Meaʻole (see above).[7]
	Sukarno (1901–1970)	Indonesia (Guided Democracy era)	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,[8] life term removed 1966, deposed 1967, died under house arrest 1970.
	Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972)	Ghana	President for Life of Ghana	1964	1966	Ousted in 1966, died in exile in Romania 1972.
	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).[9]
	Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier (1951–2014)			1971	1986	Named by his father as successor (see above), deposed 1986, died 2014.
	Hastings Banda (1898–1997)	Malawi	President for Life of Malawi	1971	1993	Life term removed 1993, voted out of office 1994, died 1997.
	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.
	Francisco Macías Nguema (1924–1979)	Equatorial Guinea	President for Life of Equatorial Guinea	1972	1979	Deposed and executed 1979.
	Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989)	Philippines (Martial law regime)	President for Life of the Philippines[Note 1]	1973	1981	Life term removed 1981, deposed 1986, died in exile 1989.
	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.
	Habib Bourguiba (1903–2000)	Tunisia	President for Life of Tunisia	1975	1987	Deposed 1987, died under house arrest 2000.
	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 (1926–1994)	South Africa ( Ciskei)	President for Life of Ciskei	1983	1990	Deposed 1990, died 1994.
	Saparmurat Niyazov (1940–2006)	Turkmenistan	President for Life of Turkmenistan	1999	2006	Died in office 2006.

Notes

1. Although he never formally claimed the title of President For Life, Marcos used a declaration of martial law (Proclamation No. 1081) to extend his mandate indefinitely beyond the term limits set by the Philippine Constitution of 1935. This was formally done through promulgating a new Constitution in 1973, whose transitional provisions gave Marcos an interim presidential term that would only end when "he calls upon the Interim National Assembly to elect the interim President [who would succeed him]". By the time Marcos made use of this provision in 1981, the constitution was amended to re-establish direct presidential elections. In the ensuing 1981 Philippine presidential election and referendum, Marcos was re-elected for a term of six years.