List of Presidents of Brazil

List of Presidents of Brazil

President Took office Left office Vice President(s) Notes
1 Deodoro da Fonseca November 15, 1889 November 23, 1891 Floriano Peixoto Led the Proclamation of the Republic. Acted as Head of the Provisional Government.
2 Floriano Peixoto November 23, 1891 November 15, 1894 vacant Inaugurated after Deodoro's resignation.
3 Prudente de Morais November 15, 1894 November 15, 1898 Manuel Vitorino First President elected by direct popular ballot.
4 Campos Sales November 15, 1898 November 15, 1902 Rosa e Silva
5 Rodrigues Alves November 15, 1902 November 15, 1906 Silviano Brandão
Afonso Pena
6 Afonso Pena November 15, 1906 June 14, 1909[1] Nilo Peçanha Died while in office.
7 Nilo Peçanha June 14, 1909 November 15, 1910 vacant Inaugurated after Pena's death.
8 Hermes da Fonseca November 15, 1910 November 15, 1914 Venceslau Brás
9 Venceslau Brás November 15, 1914 November 15, 1918 Urbano Santos
10 Rodrigues Alves Delfim Moreira First person to be elected more than once to the presidency. Died before inauguration.
11 Delfim Moreira November 15, 1918 July 28, 1919 vacant Inaugurated after the death of President-elect Rodrigues Alves.
12 Epitácio Pessoa July 28, 1919 November 15, 1922 Delfim Moreira
Bueno de Paiva Elected to complete the 1918-1922 presidential term.
13 Artur Bernardes November 15, 1922 November 15, 1926 Estacio Coimbra
14 Washington Luís November 15, 1926 October 24, 1930 Melo Viana Overthrown three weeks before the end of his term.
15 Júlio Prestes Vital Soares President-elect, not inaugurated because of 1930 Revolution.


Vargas era
Main article: History of Brazil (1930-1945)
# President Took office Left office Vice President(s) Notes
16 Augusto Fragoso October 24, 1930 November 3, 1930 vacant Provisorial military junta after 1930 Revolution.
Menna Barreto
Isaías de Noronha
17 Getúlio Vargas November 3, 1930 October 29, 1945 vacant[2] Estado Novo dictator from the coup d'etát of November 10, 1937 to 1945, with the title of President.
18 José Linhares October 29, 1945 January 31, 1946 vacant Chief Justice of Brazil. Installed as president after a military coup overthrew Vargas.


The republic of 1946
Main article: History of Brazil (1945-1964)
In 1945, Vargas was deposed by a military coup led by two ex-supporters. Nevertheless, he would be elected president once again and his influence in Brazilian politics would remain until the end of the second republic. In this period, three parties dominated the national politics. Two were pro-Vargas – in the left, PTB and in the center-right, PSD – and another anti-Vargas, the rightist UDN.

This period was very unstable. In 1954, Vargas committed suicide during a crisis that threatened his government and he was followed by a series of short-term presidents. In 1961, UDN elected the party's first president, Jânio Quadros, who resigned seven months later. In that time, the president and the vice-president were voted separately. The vice-president was a political enemy of Jânio Quadros, the leftist João Goulart. A brief crisis had taken place, and the solution was a parliamentarism system, in which Goulart was inaugurated with reduced powers. A plebiscite in 1963 restored presidencialism and a military coup deposed Goulart in 1964, starting the military dictatorship.

President Took office Left office Vice President(s) Notes
19 Gaspar Dutra January 31, 1946 January 31, 1951 Nereu Ramos
20 Getúlio Vargas January 31, 1951 August 24, 1954[3] Café Filho Elected by popular ballot. Committed suicide while in office.
21 Café Filho August 24, 1954 November 9, 1955[4] vacant Inaugurated after Vargas' suicide.
22 Carlos Luz November 9, 1955 November 11, 1955 vacant President of the Chamber of Deputies, inaugurated after Café Filho's leave of absence. Deposed by a coup.
23 Nereu Ramos November 11, 1955 January 31, 1956 vacant President of the Senate, inaugurated after the deposition of Carlos Luz.
24 Juscelino Kubitschek January 31, 1956 January 31, 1961 João Goulart
25 Jânio Quadros January 31, 1961 August 25, 1961[5] João Goulart
26 Ranieri Mazzilli August 25, 1961 September 7, 1961 vacant President of the Chamber of Deputies, took office before Goulart's inauguration.
27 João Goulart September 7, 1961 April 1, 1964 vacant Deposed by a military coup.


The military dictatorship
Main article: History of Brazil (1964-1985)
# President Took office Left office Vice President(s) Notes
28 Ranieri Mazzilli April 2, 1964 April 15, 1964 vacant President of the Chamber of Deputies, took office as provisional president after the military coup.
29 Castelo Branco April 15, 1964 March 15, 1967 José Maria Alckmin Military dictator. Elected by an Electoral College.
30 Costa e Silva March 15, 1967 August 31, 1969 Pedro Aleixo Military dictator. Incapacitated by a stroke.
Augusto Rademaker August 31, 1969 October 30, 1969 vacant Military Junta, inaugurated after Costa e Silva's illness.
Aurélio Lira
Márcio Melo
31 Emilio Medici October 30, 1969 March 15, 1974 Augusto Rademaker Military dictator.
32 Ernesto Geisel March 15, 1974 March 15, 1979 Adalberto Pereira dos Santos Military dictator.
33 João Figueiredo March 15, 1979 March 15, 1985 Aureliano Chaves Military dictator.

The new republic
Main article: History of Brazil (1985-present)

Brazilian Presidential StandardSince 1980, in the end of the Cold War, the military government started a process of gradual political opening, called abertura, the final goal of which was the democracy. When the term of the last military president ended, however, no direct elections for president was taken.

Tancredo Neves, who had been prime-minister during the presidency of João Goulart, was chosen to be the candidate of PMDB, the major opposition party, but he was also supported by a large political spectrum, even including a significant part of the ARENA, the party that supported the military presidents. Tancredo was elected by the Electoral College, but died before he could be inaugutarated. The first civilian president since 1964 was Tancredo's running mate, José Sarney, himself an ex-member of ARENA. In 1988, a new democratic Constitution was passed, and democracy was consolidated.

In 1989, the first elections for president under the new Constitution were held and the young Fernando Collor was elected for a five-years term - the first president to be elected by direct popular ballot since the military coup. He was inaugurated in 1990 and in 1992 he become the first president in Brazil impeached due to corruption.

In 1995, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was inaugurated for a four-year term, but in 1997 an Amendment was passed and allowed him to be the first president in Brazil to be reelected.

In 2003, the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated.

# President Took office Left office Vice President(s) Notes
34 Tancredo Neves José Sarney Elected by the Electoral College. Died before taking office.
35 José Sarney March 15, 1985 March 15, 1990 vacant Tancredo's Vice-president, inaugurated after his death.
36 Fernando Collor March 15, 1990 October 2, 1992[6] Itamar Franco First president elected by popular vote since the military coup. Impeached by the congress.
37 Itamar Franco October 2, 1992 January 1, 1995 vacant Inaugurated after Collor's impeachment.
38 Fernando Henrique Cardoso January 1, 1995 January 1, 2003
Marco Maciel First president to be reelected to a second term.
39 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva January 1, 2003 incumbent José Alencar