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)
^ abcdePresidents 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).
^ abcdePresidents 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]
^ abcdeExerts 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]
^ abThe 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]
^ abActing 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]
^ abcdefghiSince 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]
^ abcdIn 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]
^ abHertzog 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]
^Died in a helicopter accident 27 April 1969.[2] The circumstances of his death are a source of controversy.[203]
^ abOccasionally 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]
^ abIn 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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