List of presidents of Brazil

Below is a list of presidents of Brazil.

Contents
The Old Republic (1889–1930)
The Vargas Era (1930–1946)
The Republic of 46 (1946–1964)
Military Dictatorship (1964–1985)
The New Republic (1985–present)
Timeline
See also
Notes
References

The Old Republic (1889–1930)

In 1889 the Empire of Brazil was abolished and replaced with a republic in a coup d'état led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, who
deposed Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II, proclaimed Brazil a Republic and formed a Provisional Government. The 15 November
1889 military coup actually began as an attempt to overthrow the Empire's Prime Minister, Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto, but
the unprecedented coup against a Prime Minister appointed by the Emperor and who enjoyed the confidence of the elected Chamber
of Deputies quickly escalated to the abolition of the monarchy. With the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic, the Empire's
Constitution ceased to operate, the Imperial Parliament (the General Assembly) ceased to exist, and not only was the Viscount of Ouro
Preto removed from office, but the position of Prime Minister itself ceased to exist. As head of the provisional government, Marshal
Deodoro da Fonseca ruled by decree, discharging both the functions of head of state and of head of government. The former provinces
of the Empire were reorganized as states and the newly proclaimed republic was declared a federation, formed by the perpetual union
of those states.

In 1890, elections for a Constituent Congress were summoned and held, but the decree of the Provisional Government that created the
Congress required it to adopt a Constitution that conformed to the recently proclaimed republican system of Government, and that
organized the recently declared Federal State. In February 1891, a new Brazilian Constitution was adopted, based on the federal
republic of the United States of America. The country itself was named the Republic of the United States of Brazil. In accordance with
the provisions of the Constitution, the presidents of the Republic were to be elected by direct popular ballot, but, for the first
presidential term, the President and Vice President would be chosen by the Constituent Congress; the Constituent Congress was to
elect the first President and Vice President immediately after the promulgation of the Constitution. In accordance with those
transitional provisions, Congress elected the then Head of the Provisional Government, Deodoro da Fonseca, as the first President of
the Republic. Marshal Floriano Peixoto, was elected by Congress to be the first vice president. The inauguration of the first president
and of the first vice president was held on 26 February 1891, only two days after the promulgation of the Constitution. Deodoro
resigned the presidency ten months later after a coup d'état in which he dissolved Congress was reversed. Then, Floriano Peixoto,
Deodoro's vice president, was inaugurated as president. In 1894, Peixoto was succeeded by Prudente de Morais, the first president of
Brazil to be elected by direct popular ballot. De Morais, who was the first president to be elected under the permanent provisions of
the Constitution adopted in 1891, was also the first civilian to assume the presidency.

Although it was theoretically a constitutional democracy, the Old Republic was characterized by the power of regional oligarchies and
the seldom broken alternation of power in the federal sphere between the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The vote in the
countryside was often controlled by the local land owner, and less than 6% of the population had the right to vote due to literacy
requirements.

In 1930, when Brazil was suffering the effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a revolution broke out in the country and the old
republic ended. President Washington Luís, who was supported by São Paulo oligarchies, broke the expected alternation between São
Paulo and Minas and supported a candidate who was also from São Paulo, Júlio Prestes. Prestes won the rigged election, but
Washington Luís was deposed three weeks before the end of his term and Prestes was never inaugurated.

Parties

    None (military)
    Federal Republican Party
    São Paulo Republican Party
    Republican Party of Minas Gerais

   Rio de Janeiro Republican Party

   Conservative Republican Party
   Barreiros' Republican Party
   Republican Party of Bahia
 President
Took Left Political Vice
No. Portrait Elected Previous public office Birthplace
(birth–death) office office party President(s)

Head of the
Provisional
Government

Deodoro da from 15 23 President of the São Cidade das

None Floriano
1 Fonseca
1891 November November Pedro do Rio Grande do Alagoas,
(military) Peixoto
(1827–1892) 1889
1891[b] Sul Province Alagoas
26
February
1891[a]

Floriano 23 14
November None Maceió,
2 Peixoto
— November Vacant Vice President
(military) Alagoas
(1839–1895) 1891 1894[c]

President of the Federal

Senate

Federal Senator for São Paulo

Prudente 15 14 Manuel
Republican Formerly, President of the
3 de Morais
1894 November November Vitorino
Itu, São Paulo
Party (PR
(1841–1902) 1894 1898 (PR Fed)
Fed)
Constituent Congress

Campos 15 14 São Paulo Rosa e

Campinas,
4 Sales
1898 November November Republican Silva
Governor of São Paulo
São Paulo
(1841–1913) 1898 1902 Party (PRP) (PR Fed)

Silviano
Brandão[d]

(PRM)
Rodrigues 15 14 São Paulo
Guaratinguetá,
5 Alves
1902 November November Republican Governor of São Paulo
São Paulo
(1848–1919) 1902 1906 Party (PRP)
Afonso
Pena[e]

(PRM)

Afonso 15 14 June Mineiro Nilo Santa

6 Pena
1906 November Republican Peçanha
Vice President Bárbara,
1909[f]
(1847–1909) 1906 Party (PRM) (PRF) Minas Gerais

Nilo 14 Rio
14 June Campos, Rio
7 Peçanha
— November Republican Vacant Vice President
1909 de Janeiro
(1867–1924) 1910 Party (PRF)

Hermes da 15 14 Conservative Venceslau São Gabriel,

Minister of the Superior
8 Fonseca
1910 November November Republican Brás
Rio Grande do
Military Court
(1855–1923) 1910 1914 Party (PRC)
(PRM) Sul

9 Venceslau 1914 15 14 Mineiro Urbano Vice President Brasópolis,

Brás
November November Republican Santos
Minas Gerais
(1868–1966) 1914 1918 Party (PRM) (PRM)
 Rodrigues São Paulo Delfim Senator for São Paulo and
Guaratinguetá,
— Alves
1918 Never took office.[g] Republican Moreira
former President of the
São Paulo
(1848–1919) Party (PRP) (PRM) Republic

Acting
President
from 15
Delfim 28 July Mineiro
November Cristina, Minas
10 Moreira
— Republican Vacant Vice President
1918
1919[h] Gerais
(1868–1920) Party (PRM)
16
January
1919

Delfim
Moreira

(PRM)
Epitácio 28 July 14 Mineiro
Umbuzeiro,
11 Pessoa
1919 November Republican Senator for Paraíba
1919[i] Paraíba
(1865–1942) 1922 Party (PRM)
Bueno de
Paiva[j]

(PRM)

Arthur 15 14 Mineiro Estácio

Viçosa, Minas
12 Bernardes
1922 November November Republican Coimbra
Governor of Minas Gerais
Gerais
(1875–1955) 1922 1926 Party (PRM) (PRB)

Fernando
Washington 15 24 São Paulo
de Melo Macaé, Rio de
13 Luís
1926 November October Republican Senator for São Paulo
Viana
Janeiro
(1869–1957) 1926 1930[k] Party (PRP)
(PRM)

Júlio São Paulo Vital

Itapetininga,
— Prestes
1930 Never took office.[l] Republican Soares
Governor of São Paulo
São Paulo
(1882–1946) Party (PRP) (PRB)

The Vargas Era (1930–1946)

The Vargas Era consists of two different republics: the Second Republic from 1930 to 1937 and the Third Republic from 1937 to 1946.

Party

   Liberal Alliance (until 1937)

 President
Left Vice Previous public
No. Portrait Elected Took office Political party Birthplace
(birth–death) office President(s) office

1) General of the
1) Tasso 1) São Luís,
Brazilian Army

Fragoso
Maranhão

3 None 2) Admiral of the

2) Isaías de 2) Rio de
— — 24 October 1930 November (provisional Vacant Brazilian Navy

Noronha
Janeiro

1930 military junta) 3) Divisional

3) Mena 3) Porto
General of the
Barreto Alegre
Brazilian Army

Head of the
Getúlio Provisional 29 São Borja,
Governor of Rio
14 Vargas
1934 Government from
October None Vacant[o] Rio Grande
Grande do Sul
(1882–1954) 3 November 1930
1945[n] do Sul
20 July 1934[m]

José 30 President of the

Baturité,
15 Linhares
— 29 October 1945 January None[p] Vacant Supreme Federal
Ceará
(1886–1957) 1946 Court

The Republic of 46 (1946–1964)

In 1945, Vargas was deposed by a military coup led by ex-supporters. Nevertheless, he would be elected president once again and his
influence in Brazilian politics would remain until the end of the Fourth 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 won national elections for the first time, supporting Jânio Quadros, who himself
was a member of a minor party allied to UDN. Quadros, who, before his election, rose meteorically in politics with an anti-corruption
stance, unexpectedly resigned the presidency seven months later. Some historians suggest that Quadros was heavily drunk when he
signed his resignation letter, while others suggest that Quadros felt that Congress would not accept his vice-president as president, and
would ask for his return. Those historians, therefore, see Quadros' resignation as an attempt to return to office with increased powers
and more political support. It is possible that both occurred: Quadros was drunk when he resigned, and in that state, he devised the
plan to return to power by Congressional request. The plot failed: Congress simply received Quadros' letter, and amid the shock of
politicians and of the Nation, the letter was entered into the records of Congress and the presidency was declared vacant. The
president of Congress, Senator Auro de Moura Andrade, took the view that the deed of resignation was the province of the elected
president, that it was not subject to a congressional vote, needing no confirmation, and that the president's declaration of resignation
was final.

At that time, the President and Vice President of Brazil were voted into office separately. The Vice President was a political enemy of
Jânio Quadros, the leftist João Goulart. Goulart was out of the country, and Congress was controlled by right wing politicians. During
Goulart's absence, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ranieri Mazzilli, took office as Acting President of Brazil. There was then
a plot to block the inauguration of the Vice President as President, but Congressional resistance to the inauguration of Goulart led to a
reaction by the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, who led a "legality campaign", and to a split in the military (that, during the fourth
Republic, intervened heavily in politics). Amid the political crisis, the solution was the adoption by Congress of a Constitutional
Amendment abolishing the presidential executive and replacing it with a parliamentary system of government. Under that negotiated
solution, Goulart's inauguration was allowed to proceed, but Goulart would be Head of State only, and a prime minister approved by
Congress would lead the government. The new system of government's continued existence was subject to popular approval in a
referendum scheduled for 1963. The result of this referendum restored the presidential executive and a military coup deposed Goulart
in 1964, starting the military dictatorship.

Parties

   Social Democratic Party

   Brazilian Labour Party
   Social Progressive Party
   National Labor Party
 Previous
President
Political Vice
No. Portrait Elected Took office Left office public Birthplace
(birth–death) party President(s)
office

Vacant

Eurico Social
Cuiabá,
Gaspar Democratic Minister
16 1945 31 January 1946 30 January 1951 Mato
Dutra
Party Nereu of War
Grosso
(1883–1974) (PSD) Ramos[q]

(PSD)

Senator
for Rio
Grande
Getúlio Brazilian do Sul
São Borja,
Café Filho

17 Vargas
1950 31 January 1951 24 August 1954[r] Labour
(PSP)
and Rio Grande
(1882–1954) Party (PTB) former do Sul
President
of the
Republic

Under self-declared
incapacity from 8
November 1955

João Café Acting President from 24 Social Natal, Rio

August 1954

and barred from Vice

18 Filho
— Progressive Vacant Grande do
resuming the powers of President
(1899–1970) 3 September 1954[s] Party (PSP) Norte
the presidency from 22
November 1955[t]

30 January 1956

President
of the
Carlos Luz
Chamber
Social Três
(1894–1961)
of
Democratic Corações,
19 Acting — 8 November 1955 11 November 1955 Vacant Deputies

Party Minas
President
Federal
(PSD) Gerais
for Café Filho Deputy
for Minas
Gerais

Vice
President
Nereu
Social of the
Ramos
Lages,
Democratic Federal
20 (1888–1958)
— 11 November 1955 30 January 1956 Vacant Santa
Party Senate

Acting Catarina
(PSD) Senator
President[u]
for Santa
Catarina

Social
Juscelino Governor Diamantina,
Democratic
21 Kubitschek
1955 31 January 1956 30 January 1961 of Minas Minas
Party
(1902–1976) Gerais Gerais
(PSD)

João
Goulart

(PTB)

Campo
Jânio National Governor Grande,
22 Quadros
1960 31 January 1961 25 August 1961[v] Labor Party of São Mato
(1917–1992) (PTN) Paulo Grosso do
Sul[w]

President
of the
Ranieri Chamber
Social
Mazzilli
of
Democratic Caconde,
23 (1910–1975)
— 25 August 1961 7 September 1961 Vacant Deputies

Party São Paulo

Acting Federal
(PSD)
President[x] Deputy
for São
Paulo

24 João — 7 September 1961[y] 1 April 1964[z] Brazilian Vacant Vice São Borja,
Goulart
Labour President Rio Grande
(1918–1976) Party (PTB) do Sul
Military Dictatorship (1964–1985)
   Social Democratic Party (abolished in 1965)

Parties abolished, except for two parties:

   National Renewal Alliance (later Democratic Social Party)

   Brazilian Democratic Movement
 President
Took Vice Previous public
No. Portrait Elected Left office Political party Birthplace
(birth–death) office President(s) office

Ranieri
President of the
Mazzilli
Social
2 April 14 April Chamber of Deputies
Caconde, São
25 (1910–1975)
— Democratic Vacant
1964 1964 Federal Deputy for Paulo
Acting Party (PSD)
São Paulo
President[aa]

National
Humberto José Maria
Renewal Chief of the General
Castelo 15 April 14 March Alkmin
Fortaleza,
26 1964 Alliance Staff of the Brazilian
Branco
1964 1967 (PSD • Ceará
(ARENA)
Army
(1897–1967) ARENA)[ab]
(military)

31 August
1969

National
Artur da Suspended
15 Renewal Pedro
Costa e due to ill Taquari, Rio
27 1966 March Alliance Aleixo
Minister of War
Silva
health
Grande do Sul
1967 (ARENA)
(ARENA)
(1899–1969) 14 October
(military)
1969
Removed[ac]

Pedro National
Renewal Mariana, Minas
— Aleixo[1]
— Never took office.[ad] Vacant Vice President
Alliance Gerais
(1901–1975)
(ARENA)

1) Admiral of the Fleet,

Minister of the
1) Augusto
Brazilian Navy

Rademaker
1) Rio de
31 2) General of the
2) Aurélio de 30 October None
Janeiro

— — August Vacant Army, Minister of the

Lira Tavares
1969 (military junta) 2) João Pessoa

1969 Brazilian Army

3) Márcio 3) Florianópolis
3) Air Brigadier,
Melo
Minister of the
Brazilian Air Force

National
Emílio Augusto
30 Renewal Commander of the
Garrastazu 14 March Rademaker
Bagé, Rio
28 1969 October Alliance
Médici
1974 (ARENA)
Third Army[ae] Grande do Sul
1969 (ARENA)

(1905–1985) (military)
(military)

National Adalberto
Ernesto 15 Renewal Pereira dos Bento
14 March
29 Geisel
1974 March Alliance Santos
President of Petrobras Gonçalves, Rio
1979
(1907–1996) 1974 (ARENA)
(ARENA)
Grande do Sul
(military) (military)

Democratic
João 15 Aureliano
14 March Social Party Head of the National Rio de Janeiro,
30 Figueiredo
1978 March Chaves

1985 (PDS)
Intelligence Service Rio de Janeiro
(1918–1999) 1979 (PDS)
(military)

The New Republic (1985–present)

In the early 1980s the military government started a process of gradual political opening, called
abertura, the final goal of which was democracy. When the term of the last military president was
to end, however, no direct elections for President of Brazil took place. For the election of the
country's first civilian president since the military coup of 1964, the military maintained the rule
that prevailed during the dictatorial regime, according to which an Electoral College made up of
the entire National Congress and Representatives from State Assemblies was to elect the
President. This time, however, the military placed the Electoral College under no coercion, so that
its members would be free to select the President of their choice. The Chamber of Deputies and
the State Assemblies had been elected, already under the abertura process in the 1982
parliamentary election, but the Senators were chosen indirectly, by the State Assemblies, under Brazilian Presidential Standard
rules that had been passed by the Military Regime in 1977 to counter the growing support of the
opposition: one third of the Senators was chosen in 1982, and two thirds had been chosen in 1978.
After the 1982 elections, the ruling party, PDS (the successor of the ARENA), still controlled a majority of the seats in the National
Congress.

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 (and the successor of the MDB Party, that had opposed the Military Regime since its inception), but Tancredo
was also supported by a large political spectrum, even including a significant part of former members of ARENA, the party that
supported the military presidents. In the last months of the military regime, a large section of ARENA members defected from the
Party, and now professed to be men of democratic inclinations. They formed the Liberal Front, and the Liberal Front Party allied itself
to PMDB, forming a coalition known as the Democratic Alliance. PMDB needed the Liberal Front's support in order to secure victory
in the Electoral College. In the formation of this broad coalition former members of ARENA also switched parties and joined PMDB.
So, to seal this arrangement, the spot of vice-president in Tancredo Neves' ticket was given to José Sarney, who represented the former
supporters of the regime that had now joined the Democratic Alliance. On the other hand, those who remained loyal to the military
regime and its legacy renamed ARENA as the PDS. In the PDS's National Convention, two right-wing supporters of the military
administrations fought for the Party's nomination: Colonel Mário Andreazza, then Minister of the Interior in General Figueiredo's
administration, was the preferred candidate of the incumbent President and of the military elite, but he was defeated by Paulo Maluf,
a civilian and former Governor of São Paulo State during the military regime. Tancredo's coalition defeated Maluf, and his election
was hailed as the dawn of a New Republic. Andreazza's defeat (by 493 votes to 350) and the selection of Maluf as the PDS's
presidential candidate greatly contributed to the split in the Party that led to the formation of the Liberal Front. The Liberal Front
refused to support Maluf and joined forces with the PMDB in supporting Tancredo Neves, thus forging the Democratic Alliance.
Without that split in the PDS, the election of the opposition candidate would not have been possible.

Although elected President of Brazil, Tancredo Neves became gravely ill on the eve of his inauguration and died without ever taking
office. Therefore, the first civilian president since 1964 was Tancredo's running mate, José Sarney, himself an ex-member of ARENA.
José Sarney's administration fulfilled Tancredo's campaign promise of passing a constitutional amendment to the Constitution
inherited from the military regime, so as to summon elections for a National Constituent Assembly with full powers to draft and adopt
a new Constitution for the country, to replace the authoritarian legislation that still remained in place. In October 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 de Mello was elected for a five-year term, the first President to be elected by
direct popular ballot since the military coup. He was inaugurated in 1990 and in 1992 he became the first President in Brazil to be
impeached due to corruption. He however resigned before the final verdict.

A referendum held in 1993 (ahead of the 1993 and 1994 Constitutional Revision) allowed the people to decide the form of government
of the state (monarchy or republic) for the first time since the proclamation of the Republic in 1889; the republican form of
government prevailed. In the same referendum, the Brazilian people was able to choose again, for the first time since 1963, the system
of Government (parliamentary or presidential) and the model of a presidential executive was retained. The revision was a unique
opportunity to amend the Constitution with a reduced majority. Had a different form or system of government been chosen in the
1993 referendum, the new institutional structure would have been implemented during the Constitutional Revision. Both the Revision
and the referendum on the form and system of government were summoned in the original text of the Constitution. The federal model
of the state, retained in the 1988 Constitution, is declared by the Constitution as not subject to abolition, even by Constitutional
Amendment. According to those tenets and to the results of the popular vote, only minor changes were made to the institutional
framework of the State in the Constitutional Revision, including the adoption of a Constitutional Amendment that reduced the
presidential term of office from five to four years.

In 1995, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was inaugurated for a four-year term. In 1997 a Constitutional Amendment was enacted
allowing presidents of Brazil to be reelected to one consecutive term. In 1998, then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso became first
president of Brazil to be reelected for an immediately consecutive term. In 2003 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated. He was
reelected in 2006. In 2011 Dilma Rousseff became Brazil's first woman president. In 2015, she took office for the second time, but in
2016 the Senate of Brazil convicted her on impeachment charges, and she was removed from office, being succeeded by Michel Temer.
In 2018 Jair Bolsonaro was elected, taking office on the 1st of January 2019.

Parties

   Brazilian Democratic Movement

   Party of the National Reconstruction

   Brazilian Social Democracy Party

   Liberal Front Party
   Workers' Party
   Brazilian Republican Party
   Social Liberal Party
   Brazilian Labour Renewal Party
 President
Took Vice Previous
No. Portrait Elected Left office Political party Birthplace
(birth–death) office President(s) public office

São João
Tancredo José
Brazilian Democratic Governor of del Rey,
— Neves
1985 Never took office.[af] Sarney

Movement Party (PMDB) Minas Gerais Minas

(1910–1985) (PMDB)
Gerais

Acting
President
José
from 15 14 March Brazilian Democratic Vice Pinheiro,
31 Sarney
— Vacant
March 1985
1990 Movement Party (PMDB) President Maranhão
(1930–)
21 April
1985

Powers and
Fernando duties Itamar
Rio de
Collor de 15 March suspended from Party of the National Franco
Governor of
32 1989 Janeiro, Rio
Mello
1990 2 October 1992
Reconstruction (PRN) (PRN • Alagoas
de Janeiro
(1949–) 29 December PMDB)[ah]
1992[ag]

Acting
President
Brazilian
from 2
Itamar Brazilian Democratic territorial
October 31 December Movement Party Vice waters,
33 Franco
— Vacant
1992
1994 President
(1930–2011) (PMDB)[ah] Atlantic
29
Ocean[ai]
December
1992

Fernando
Marco Rio de
Henrique 1994
1 January 31 December Brazilian Social Minister of
34 Maciel
Janeiro, Rio
Cardoso
1998 1995 2002 Democracy Party (PSDB) Finance
(PFL) de Janeiro
(1931–)

Luiz Inácio Federal

José
Lula da 2002
1 January 31 December Deputy from Caetés,
35 Workers' Party (PT) Alencar

Silva
2006 2003 2010 São Paulo Pernambuco
(PRB)
(1945–) (1987–1991)

Powers and Minister

duties Chief of Staff Belo
Dilma Michel
2010
1 January suspended from of the Horizonte,
36 Rousseff
Workers' Party (PT) Temer

2014 2011 12 May 2016

Presidency Minas
(1947–) (PMDB)
31 August of the Gerais
2016[aj] Republic

Acting
President
Michel
from 12 May 31 December Brazilian Democratic Vice Tietê, São
37 Temer
— Vacant
(1940–)
2016
2018 Movement (MDB)[ak] President Paulo
31 August
2016

38 Jair 2018 1 January Incumbent Social Liberal Party (PSL)

Hamilton Federal Glicério,
Bolsonaro
2019 (until 2019) Mourão Deputy from São Paulo
(1955–) (PRTB) Rio de
Independent[al]
Janeiro
(from 2019)
Timeline

See also
List of presidents of Brazil by time in office
List of presidents of Brazil by longevity
President of Brazil
List of Brazilian monarchs
Prime Minister of Brazil
First ladies and gentlemen of Brazil
List of governors-general of Brazil (in Colonial Brazil)
History of Brazil
List of Brazilians
List of heads of state of Brazil

Notes
a. In a military coup d'état on 15 November 1889, Marshal of the Army Deodoro da Fonseca overthrew the government of the Empire
of Brazil, led by Prime Minister the Viscount of Ouro Preto. The unprecedented military coup against a prime minister appointed by
the emperor and who enjoyed the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies quickly escalated to the proclamation of the republic on
that same date; thus, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was deposed by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca and the monarchy was declared
abolished. The constitution then in force ceased to operate, and the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state, was replaced with a federal
republic, each province of the empire becoming a state. Until the organization of the republic's constitutional order, however, the
central Government appointed the governments of the several States. The imperial Parliament (the General Assembly) was
dissolved, and Deodoro formed a provisional government. Deodoro as head of the provisional government could appoint and
dismiss the other members of that government, and discharged by decree absolute legislative and executive powers. The
provisional government was in effect a dictatorship, and remaining monarchist sentiment in society was repressed, as the
government and the army were committed to the consolidation of the recently declared republic. The imperial family and their
descendants were banished from the country by decree of the provisional government, and the dynasty's exile was only revoked
in 1920. On 15 January 1890 Deodoro, as head of the Provisional Government, assumed for himself the unique military rank of
Generalissimo of Land and Sea. In 1890 elections for a constituent congress were held, but the congress (made up of a senate
 with equal representation of the newly declared states and of a Chamber of Deputies with delegations proportional to the size of
the population of each State) was required to adopt a constitution that conformed to the republican system of government and to
the federal model of state. Congress assembled in November 1890 and a draft constitution, prepared by a committee of republican
jurists and politicians appointed by the Provisional Government, was submitted to Congress by the head of the provisional
government, and formed the basis for the congressional deliberations. The Constitution was promulgated by Congress on 24
February 1891. It confirmed the abolition of the parliamentary system of government and created a presidential Executive, widely
based on the model of the United States of America. Presidents and vice-presidents were to be elected for 4 years, without the
possibility of re-election, by direct popular ballot, but for the first presidential term, Congress was to conduct the election
immediately after the adoption of the constitution. Subsequent presidents were to be elected on 1 March and inaugurated on 15
November, starting in the year 1894. Accordingly, under those transitional rules, on 25 February 1891, the day after the adoption
of the constitution, Congress voted for president and vice-president, and the then head of the provisional government,
Generalissimo Deodoro da Fonseca, was elected to become the nation's first President. The voting for vice-president took place
immediately after the counting of the votes for President, and Marshal Floriano Peixoto was chosen by Congress to be the first
vice-president. The swearing in of Deodoro da Fonseca and Floriano Peixoto as president and vice-president, respectively, took
place on the following day, 26 February 1891, and that inauguration marked the termination of the Provisional Government.
b. In a coup d'état on 3 November 1891, President Deodoro da Fonseca shut down the National Congress and ruled by decree for a
few weeks, attempting to suspend the Constitution and to establish a dictatorial regime in the fashion of the Spanish American
caudillos. There was a reaction by the Brazilian Navy against Deodoro's coup (the First Revolt of the Armada) and Deodoro was
forced to resign the presidency. Deodoro was effectively deposed by the forces loyal to the Constitution in a counter-coup d'état,
but because he yielded to the demands of the Navy and agreed to resign the presidency, neither the constitutional impeachment
process nor a formal overthrow without impeachment (that would also have been a violation of the Constitution, this time by the
counter-coup forces) took place, and instead Deodoro's removal from office was formalized as a simple resignation. Many officers
in the Brazilian Navy were still monarchists, opposed Deodoro, and only reluctantly accepted the newly created Republic, but were
unwilling to see it be transformed from a constitutional state into a dictatorship. Upon Deodoro's resignation on 23 November
1891, Vice-President Floriano Peixoto succeeded to the presidency and reversed Deodoro's coup. The constitutional legal order
was restored, Deodoro's dissolution of Congress was deemed null and void, and Deodoro's other acts since the coup were
similarly declared invalid.
c. Marshal of the Army Floriano Peixoto, Deodoro's Vice-President, succeeded to the Presidency upon President Manuel Deodoro
da Fonseca's resignation. The Constitution then in force stipulated that, whenever the Presidency became vacant during the first
half of presidential term, new elections should be summoned at once, and the Vice-President should serve as President only until
the inauguration of a new elected President. Deodoro had resigned during the first half of his presidential term (he had been
sworn-in as President on 26 February 1891 to serve until 15 November 1894 and had resigned the office on 23 November 1891),
but the new President, Floriano Peixoto, refused to summon new elections, arguing that the constitutional provision requiring new
elections should only apply if the Presidency had been vacated during the first half of the presidential term by a President elected
by direct popular ballot under the permanent provisions of the Constitution. Floriano held that, because Deodoro and himself had
been respectively elected President and Vice-President by the Constituent Congress under the transitional provisions of the
Constitution, and because the Constitution directed that the first elections by direct popular ballot should be held on 1 March 1894
to choose the President that would be inaugurated on 15 November 1894 for the first regular four year term, no elections needed
to take place in the wake of Deodoro's resignation, neither by Congress, nor by direct popular ballot. Accordingly, Floriano Peixoto
continued to serve as president for the remainder of the first presidential term, that is, until 15 November 1894. Because his
interpretation of the Constitution was disputed by several political forces and his manner was regarded as also dictatorial, Floriano
faced many revolts (including the Second Revolt of the Armada, that the Administration managed to defeat), and Floriano
governed under state of siege, with the right of habeas corpus and several other constitutional rights suspended (in accordance
with the emergency provisions of the Constitution), for most of his time in office. Floriano also took advantage of the emergency
powers of the state of siege to further suppress remaining pockets of Monarchist sentiment in society and in Brazil's political life,
and for this reason he has been dubbed the "consolidator of the Republic". In 1894 he was succeeded by Prudente de Morais, the
first President to be elected by direct popular ballot under the permanent provisions of the Constitution and also the first civilian to
hold office as President of Brazil.
d. Vice-President elect Silviano Brandão died on 25 September 1902, before his inauguration. Accordingly, on inauguration day, 15
November 1902, President Rodrigues Alves took office alone, and the Vice-Presidency was declared vacant. As per the
constitutional norms then in force, a special election was then summoned to choose a new Vice-President to serve the remainder
of the four-year term.
e. The special election for Vice-President, summoned to fill the vacancy provoked by the death of Vice-President elect Silviano
Brandão, was held on 18 March 1903. Afonso Pena was elected to the Vice-Presidency, and took office on 23 June 1903.
f. President Afonso Pena, elected to serve the 1906–1910 presidential term, died in office on 14 June 1909. Upon Afonso Pena's
death, Vice-President Nilo Peçanha became President and served during the remainder of the presidential term.
g. Rodrigues Alves, who had been the 5th President of Brazil (1902–1906), was elected to serve as the 10th President in 1918 but
fell ill with the Spanish Flu before his inauguration, so that he was not able to attend it. His running-mate, Delfim Moreira took
office as vice-president and became acting president. Rodrigues Alves never took the oath of office before Congress to become
the 10th President, as he did not recover from his illness and died. Delfim Moreira succeeded to the Presidency upon the
President-elect's death in January 1919.
h. Vice-President Delfim Moreira succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of President-elect Rodrigues Alves, but, in accordance
with the constitutional provisions then in force, since the vacancy of the presidency occurred in the first half of the four-year
presidential term, new elections were summoned and Delfim Moreira served only until an elected President was chosen and
inaugurated to finish the 1918–1922 presidential term.
i. Rodrigues Alves died on 16 January 1919. The extraordinary election summoned in accordance with the Constitution was held on
13 April 1919. Elected to finish the remainder of the 1918–1922 presidential term, Epitácio Pessoa took office on 28 July 1919.
Upon the inauguration of President Epitácio Pessoa, Delfim Moreira ceased to be President, and returned to the office of Vice-
President.
j. Vice-President Delfim Moreira died on 1 July 1920. After his death, the Vice-Presidency remained vacant until a new Vice-
President was elected and inaugurated. Bueno de Paiva took office as Vice-President on 11 November 1920 to complete the
remainder of the 1918–1922 term of office.
k. President Washington Luís was deposed by the 1930 Revolution, marking the end of the Old Republic era. The Revolution broke
out on 3 October 1930, and, after battles between revolutionary and government forces far from the Capital, a military faction in
the Capital sided with the revolutionaries and deposed the President on 24 October 1930. Upon Washington Luís' overthrow, a
provisional military junta seized power; days later, on 3 November 1930, that military triumvirate would cede full authority to
Getúlio Vargas, the leader of the revolutionary movement, who declared the 1891 Constitution abolished, dissolved Congress and
formed a Provisional Government, promising the creation of a new constitutional order.
l. Júlio Prestes, elected on 1 March 1930, never took office due to the 1930 coup that deposed his predecessor Washington Luís.
m. Getúlio Vargas governed by decree from 3 November 1930 to 20 July 1934, as Head of the Provisional Government, with absolute
powers. On 9 July 1932 a revolution broke out in the State of São Paulo, demanding the restoration of Constitutional Government.
The revolution was defeated by the Government, but it led to Vargas finally making good on his promise to summon a Constituent
Assembly. The 1933-1934 Constituent Assembly promulgated Brazil's new Constitution on 16 July 1934, and, under the
Constitution's transitional provisions, the first President was to be elected by the Assembly, and subsequent presidents were to be
elected by direct popular ballot. In accordance with those rules, on 17 July 1934 the Constituent Assembly voted for President and
Vargas won the election. Accordingly, Vargas, who until then was Head of the Provisional Government, was sworn-in as President
of the Republic on 20 July 1934, for a term of office that would last until the inauguration of a successor on 3 May 1938. However,
on 10 November 1937, Vargas led a coup d'état and proclaimed the Estado Novo dictatorship, imposing a new Constitution that
allowed him to rule by decree. Both the referendum provided in the 1937 Constitution that would have confirmed the adoption of
the new constitutional legislation, and the elections provided in the 1937 Constitution were never held, under the pretext of a state
of emergency. Accordingly, Vargas effectively extended his term of office indefinitely. State Governors were replaced by Federal
Interventors appointed by the President of the Republic, and the Legislative chambers in both Federal and State level were
dissolved. The new Legislative bodies created by the 1937 Constitution were never elected, due to the state of emergency that
lasted until the end of the regime, and accordingly, during that whole period (1937-1945) the President of the Republic and the
Interventors appointed to the several States discharged both Executive and Legislative powers, on a theoretically provisional, but
effectively permanent, basis. Political parties were abolished, and opposition to the regime was suppressed. Thus, under the
Estado Novo, President Vargas ruled Brazil as a dictator, until he was deposed by the military, in an insurrection led by Vargas's
own Minister of War, on 29 October 1945.
n. By 1945, Vargas was under strong pressure from his own supporters to reform his authoritarian Estado Novo regime and to allow
for the restoration of democratic freedoms in Brazil. On 28 February 1945, the dictator yielded to those mounting demands and
signed a statute granting amnesty to his opponents, amending the 1937 Constitution and finally summoning elections for the
Parliament it had established, that had never assembled. The elections were to be held on 2 December 1945. The Legislature
would have the power to reform the Constitution; a further statute issued on 28 May 1945 also scheduled presidential elections for
2 December. On 2 October, the Superior Electoral Court ruled that the Parliament's powers to reform the Constitution would be
unlimited. Political parties had been allowed to organize for the first time since 1937, and there was rising opposition to Vargas, in
spite of the constraints still placed by the regime on freedom of expression. However, the political atmosphere was one of
suspicion and insecurity, given Vargas' authoritarian record. There were fears that the elections could be cancelled, or that they
would be manipulated by Vargas. In those circumstances, a group of Vargas' own Generals, led by the Minister of War, General
Pedro Aurélio de Góes Monteiro, turned against the dictator and deposed him from office in a sudden palace coup on 29 October
1945. The military then handed over power to the President of the Supreme Court, and safeguarded the freedom of the December
1945 elections, in which all parties were allowed to take part, from Communists to right-wing landowners; from Vargas's staunch
opponents to his most loyal defenders. The deposed dictator himself (who still mustered strong popular support on account of the
many social reforms implemented during his government, that created the Brazilian welfare state) was elected a Senator by the
State of Rio Grande do Sul. He would go on to be elected President in 1950.
o. The office of Vice-President was abolished during Vargas' tenure, as neither the 1934 Constitution nor the 1937 Constitution
provided for a Vice-President.
p. José Linhares, President of the Supreme Court, took office as President of the Republic after he was summoned by the Minister of
War, General Góes Monteiro, in the wake of the overthrow of President Getúlio Vargas. At the time of the dictator's toppling, the
President of the Supreme Court was the first and only person in the presidential line of succession, given that the other officers in
that line, who would have outranked him, had never been elected, so that Linhares was Vargas' legal deputy. The Linhares
Administration was a transitional government, that established the rules and procedures for the termination of the Estado Novo
regime and the restoration of democratic institutions in Brazil. The parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2
December 1945 were maintained, but on 12 November 1945 Linhares issued a statute establishing that the Parliament to be
elected would be a fully fledged Constituent Assembly, charged with adopting a new, democratic Constitution to replace the one
that had been imposed by Vargas in 1937 and create a new political system in its place. Once elections were held and the elected
President took office on 31 January 1946, José Linhares returned to his position as President of the Supreme Court.
q. In accordance with the rules decreed during the Linhares Administration to govern the transition to democracy, the 1945 elections
were held to choose a President and the members of the Constituent Assembly (made up of Senators and Deputies) only. The
office of Vice President had been abolished since 1934, and so no Vice President was chosen. However, the Constituent
Assembly decided to recreate the office of Vice President. The Constitution adopted on 18 September 1946 specified that the first
Vice President would be elected by the Constituent Assembly itself on the day following the promulgation of the Constitution, and
would take office on the same date, to serve until the inauguration of the President and Vice President that would take office in
1951. Under those transitional provisions, Nereu Ramos was elected and inaugurated as Vice President on 19 September 1946.
r. Vargas committed suicide on 24 August 1954. The political climate at the time of President Vargas' suicide was one of turmoil and
instability. Vargas was a former dictator, who had been democratically elected President of Brazil in 1950 by direct popular ballot
under the 1946 Constitution. In 1953, a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry accused the Government of illegally aiding
newspaper owner Samuel Wainer to obtain loans from the State-owned bank Banco do Brasil in exchange for political support by
his Última Hora newspaper. This accusation resulted in an impeachment petition against Vargas that reached the floor of the
Chamber of Deputies, but the impeachment attempt failed, and the charges were accordingly never presented to the Senate,
because the Chamber of Deputies rejected the impeachment petition in June 1954. The political atmosphere, however, remained
very tense. Shortly afterwards, a criminal attempt against the life of leading Opposition politician Carlos Lacerda on 5 August 1954
(an episode in Rio de Janeiro known as the Tonelero Street shooting), that resulted in the death of his bodyguard, Air Force Major
Rubens Vaz, led to accusations by the Opposition that the criminal act had been orchestrated by Vargas himself or by his aides,
and in late August 1954 it was widely expected that a section of the military would soon intervene in politics once again, to depose
President Vargas due to that incident. Indeed, investigations conducted by the Air Force Police found that Gregório Fortunato, a
member of President Vargas' bodyguard, had orchestrated the criminal act against Carlos Lacerda that resulted in the death of
Major Rubens Vaz. A Military Inquiry on the death of Major Rubens Vaz, conducted at Rio's Galeão Air Force Base, also
uncovered evidence of corruption involving both Fortunato and Manuel Vargas, the President's son. Although some claimed that
the President's supporters had acted alone, without his knowledge, opponents of the President claimed that he had ordered
Lacerda's assassination and that he was the mastermind behind the shooting. Those circumstances resulted in agitation in the
military against the President, and, on the eve of his suicide, troops were already on the move to depose him, without the
constitutional impeachment process, in what, therefore, would have been a military coup d'état. Having perceived that he had little
support in the military to avoid a coup, and that his overthrow was imminent, Vargas, in a depressed state, committed suicide. He
had presided over an emergency cabinet meeting in the early hours of 24 August 1954, and then retired to his bedroom and, a few
hours later, shot himself in the chest, leaving behind a suicide note and a political testament. An ambulance was called to the
Palace, but when it arrived Vargas was already dead. After his death, the military mobilization for a coup ceased, and there was an
outpouring of popular feeling for the deceased President. In 1956 Fortunato was found guilty of the Tonelero Street crime, and
sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was murdered by a fellow prison inmate in 1962. The involvement of President Vargas in the
criminal act is still debated by historians.
s. Upon the suicide of President Getúlio Vargas on 24 August 1954 Vice President Café Filho immediately assumed the powers and
duties of the Presidency as Acting President, but the joint session of Congress required by the Federal Constitution for his
swearing-in as President was only held on 3 September 1954, after the burial of the deceased President and a period of mourning.
Accordingly, from 24 August 1954 until 3 September 1954, Café Filho was Acting President of the Republic, and on 3 September
1954 he took the constitutional oath in the presence of Congress and became President.
 t. On 8 November 1955 President Café Filho declared himself temporarily unable to govern for medical reasons. The President had
gone to hospital on 3 November 1955, suffering from a heart condition. His self-declared incapacity led to the assumption of the
powers of the presidency by Carlos Luz (who was President of the Chamber of Deputies) as Acting President. The President of
the Chamber of Deputies was the constitutional successor of the President of the Republic because the Vice-Presidency was then
vacant. However, Acting President Carlos Luz was seen as hostile to the inauguration of the then-president elect, Juscelino
Kubitschek. Indeed, the results of the election were contested by the National Democratic Union (UDN), the party that had the
second greatest share of the vote in the 1955 presidential election, and there was talk of a conspiracy to block the inauguration of
the president-elect. Therefore, fearing that Carlos Luz would lead a coup to prevent the inauguration of the president-elect, a
section of the military, led by the Army Minister himself (Marshal Henrique Teixeira Lott), in what they called a preventive counter-
coup, deposed Carlos Luz from the post of acting president on 11 November, and installed Senator Nereu Ramos, the Vice
President of the Senate, as Acting President of the Republic in his stead. Faced with the actions of the military, both Houses of
Congress summarily voted, also on 11 November 1955, to back Marshal Lott's preventive counter coup, by recognizing an
emergency, declaring Luz impeded from acting as President, and confirming Nereu Ramos as Acting President. Carlos Luz
attempted to resist his toppling, by boarding the Navy ship Tamandaré in the company of leading UDN politicians, and heading to
the port of Santos, in the hope of receiving the support of Jânio Quadros, the Governor of São Paulo State, and of the military
stationed in that State. However, the Tamandaré received news from São Paulo that such support would not be forthcoming, and
Luz therefore ordered the ship to sail back to Rio de Janeiro, where he surrendered on 13 November. Also on 13 November 1955,
Acting President Nereu Ramos visited President Café Filho in hospital, and assured him that he would only continue serving as
Acting President until the President recovered. However, Marshal Lott and the other leaders of the 11 of November movement
decided to block the resumption of the powers of the presidency by Café Filho, because they suspected that the President, too,
was involved in the conspiracy to prevent the inauguration of the president-elect. Upon being released from hospital, on 21
November, Café Filho sent a message to the Acting President and to both Houses of Congress informing them that he had
recovered from his illness, and therefore was resuming the powers and duties of the Presidency of the Republic. His resumption of
those powers and duties, however, was swiftly blocked by the military: army tanks surrounded the Catete Palace (the seat of the
presidency), to prevent Café Filho from reaching the Presidential Palace, where Nereu Ramos remained. Several other points in
the capital were also surrounded by military forces. Café Filho therefore returned to his private residence, that was soon also
surrounded by tanks, and the President was prevented from leaving his home. Given that situation, both Houses of Congress
summarily voted, on 21 and 22 November 1955, to declare that the President's impediment persisted, that he therefore could not
resume the powers and duties of the Presidency until the Congress resolved otherwise, and that acorrdingly, Senator Nereu
Ramos should continue as Acting President, as per the congressional resolutions of 11 November. Because this "solution" was
employed, of the Houses of Congress declaring, on 21 and 22 November, that they considered that Café Filho could not for the
time being resume the powers and duties of the office, he was never formally removed from the office, and there was no
impeachment process. Had there been an impeachment process, it would have required a formal accusation against the
President, and he would have had the chance to defend himself and to stand trial before the Senate. However, impeachment
proceedings were never initiated against Café Filho, and instead he was simply prevented from resuming his powers and duties
on the basis of the congressional resolutions of 21 and 22 November 1955. Although for all practical purposes Café Filho had
effectively been deposed, and it was universally understood that he would never be allowed to resume the powers of the
presidency, neither Congress nor the military went as far as declaring the presidential office vacant, and therefore, formally, Café
Filho was not overthrown, but simply barred from resuming the powers of the presidency. While technically Café Filho was never
removed from office, he was thus prevented from resuming the powers and duties of the presidency until the end of his term and
the inauguration of Kubitschek on 31 January 1956, and Nereu Ramos continued seving as Acting President until then. Café
Filho's lawyers presented two petitions on his behalf to the Supreme Court also on 22 November 1955: one of habeas corpus, to
restore his freedom of movement, and one of writ of mandamus, seeking an injunction from the Court to allow the President to
resume his powers and duties. A statute was passed by Congress and signed into law by Acting President Ramos on 25
November declaring a state of siege (a form of martial law prescribed by the emergency provisions of the Constitution, that were
then put in operation). On 14 December 1955, the Supreme Federal Court decided not to interfere in the political question, by
ruling, regarding the writ of mandamus petition, that it could not decide the case while the state of siege declared by law persisted.
As for the habeas corpus petition, it was declared moot on 21 December 1955, after Acting President Ramos informed the Court
that Café Filho's freedom of movement had been restored, without prejudice to the continuation of his impediment. Only on 7
November 1956, long after Café Filho's term had ended, the Court would resume its deliberation on the writ of mandamus, to
dispose of the case and close it, by recognizing that the petition had now been rendered moot, due to the termination of Café
Filho's term in office.
u. Nereu Ramos was the Vice President of the Federal Senate (the office of President of the Senate, then vested in the Vice-
Presidency of the Republic, was vacant, and thus Ramos, as Vice President of the Senate, acted as the Senate's presiding officer
pro tempore). Summoned by the Minister of the Army, Henrique Teixeira Lott, who led the coup to overthrow Acting President
Carlos Luz, Senator Nereu Ramos assumed the powers of the presidency of the Republic after Luz's deposition, on 11 November
1955 (as detailed above). After President Café Filho was impeded from resuming the powers and duties of the office on 21 and 22
November 1955, Ramos continued serving as Acting President until the end of the presidential term and the inauguration of
President-elect Kubitschek. Although technically Carlos Luz and Nereu Ramos were only acting presidents, due to the critical
circumstances surrounding their Administrations, they are usually included in the lists of presidents of Brazil, and are even
included in the official gallery of presidents published by the Presidency of Brazil. Furthermore, Nereu Ramos had an official
photograph of himself as president made, and he made use of the Presidential Sash, the insignia reserved for the President of the
Republic alone. As for the actions of the military and of Congress that deposed Acting President Calos Luz, prevented President
Café Filho from resuming the discharge of the powers of the presidency, installed and maintained Senator Nereu Ramos as Acting
President until the inauguration of President-elect Kubitschek, those actions were in clear violation of the Constitution, although
the backing of Congress helped to increase the appearance of legitimacy to the acts of the military. In spite of being
unconstitutional, most historians today agree that those actions, led by Marshal Henrique Lott, had indeed the aim of securing the
transfer of power according to the result of the 1955 presidential election; that there was indeed a conspiracy to prevent the
inauguration of Kubitschek; and that the democratic result of the 1955 elections would not have been respected if not for the
actions of Lott's preventive counter coup.
 v. President Jânio Quadros resigned from office on 25 August 1961. There were no political reasons for President Quadros' sudden
and abrupt resignation, that took the country and the political establishment by surprise. Some aides and close advisors of the
former President have postulated that Quadros was heavily drunk when he wrote and ordered the delivery to Congress of his letter
of resignation. Others suggest that Quadros imagined that Congress would not want his Vice-President, João Goulart, as
president, and that the legislature would therefore ask him to reconsider his resignation, and would agree to grant him
extraordinary powers. Several historians postulate that both things may be true: Quadros was drunk, and in that state he imagined
that his resignation would not be accepted and would result in him being able to bargain for extraordinary powers. However, the
Brazilian Constitution did not require that the President's resignation be accepted by Congress or by any authority; instead the
resignation was deemed to be a unilateral act, that became effective as soon as Congress received the President's written
instrument of resignation. Accordingly, once the President of Congress received the Quadros' letter of resignation, a joint session
of Congress was convened, the resignation letter was simply read and entered into the records of Congress, and the resignation
was deemed effective, and as a result the President of Congress immediately proceeded to declare that Quadros had vacated the
Presidency. Afterwards, when asked why he had resigned from office, Quadros denied both the claims of authoritarian intentions
and the accounts that he was drunk, but simply stated that he had done it because he wanted to, giving no further reasons for his
action. His resignation letter mentioned that he felt he had been "crushed" by unspecified "terrible forces" organized against him.
w. By the time Jânio Quadros was born, Campo Grande was a city in Mato Grosso State. Nowadays, it is the capital city of the State
of Mato Grosso do Sul, created in 1977.
x. Mazzilli, President of the Chamber of Deputies and second in line in the presidential order of succession, became Acting President
of the Republic upon President Quadros's resignation, because the Vice President of the Republic, João Goulart, was then out of
the country, on an official visit to China. Due to a serious political crisis (see below for further details), Vice President Goulart only
took office as President on 7 September 1961, and Mazzilli remained as Acting President until then.
y. Goulart was on an official visit to China when Quadros resigned the presidency. While the Vice President was still abroad, there
was an attempt on the part of the Vice President's opponents, who controlled Congress, to prevent him from being inaugurated,
but that movement failed, due to resistance by the Governor of the State Rio Grande do Sul and a split in the military. However,
Congress only allowed the inauguration of Goulart to proceed after a compromise was reached, whereby a Constitutional
Amendment severely limiting the powers of the presidency was passed on 2 September 1961. Under that Constitutional
Amendment, the presidential executive, that had existed since the proclamation of the Republic, was abolished and replaced with
a parliamentary system, in which a Prime Minister was the head of government and the President of the Republic retained only the
role of head of state. The Amendment however stipulated that the constitutional change would only become permanent if
confirmed by the people in a referendum. On 6 January 1963 that referendum was held, and a majority of the voters rejected the
Amendment, backing the restoration of the presidential Executive instead. According to the result of the referendum, on 23
January 1963 a new Constitutional Amendment was promulgated, repealing the 1961 Amendment and re-establishing the
presidential Executive as it existed immediately prior to that Amendment. Thus, from 7 September 1961 until 23 January 1963
President Goulart served as head of State only, in a parliamentary system of Government, and, from 23 January 1963 onwards,
he served as both head of state and head of government.
z. Goulart was deposed by the military coup of 1964, that marked the beginning of the 1964–1985 military regime.
aa. Following the 1964 military coup, the President of Congress, Senator Auro de Moura Andrade convened a joint session of
Congress on 2 April 1964 and summarily announced that President João Goulart was deposed and that the Presidency was
vacant. Moura Andrade then declared Ranieri Mazzilli (who then was the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the first
person in the presidential line of succession) to have become President of the Republic. Accordingly, Mazzilli took charge of the
Presidency, but, in spite of Moura Andrade's bold statement declaring Mazzilli President, Mazzilli only took office as Acting
President: he never took the presidential oath and, during his brief term in office, he issued his acts as "The President of the
Chamber of Deputies, acting in the office of President of the Republic". The 1946 Constitution, then in force, authorized a Vice-
President to succeed to the Presidency if the office of President became vacant, but it only authorized the President of the
Chamber of Deputies and the other officers in the line of succession to serve as Acting President, and, in the case of a double
vacancy of the Presidency and of the Vice-Presidency, it required new presidential elections to be summoned (direct elections by
popular ballot if the second vacancy took place in the first half of the presidential term; indirect elections by Congress if the second
vacancy occurred in the second half of the presidential term). Mindful of the fact that the elected President for the 1961-1966 term
was Quadros (who had resigned), succeeded as President by Goulart, his Vice-President (who was deposed by the 1964 military
coup), and that he was only the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Mazzilli limited his actions to that of a caretaker Acting
President, pending the holding of elections. The norms that would have governed those elections, however, were altered by
continuing acts of interference from the Armed Forces that had ejected Goulart from office: on 9 April 1964, a body known as the
Supreme Command of the Revolution, composed of the leaders of the military coup (the commanders of the three branches of the
Armed Forces), issued an Institutional Act summoning the National Congress to elect a new President in 48 hours. The military
then put forward the name of Marshal Castelo Branco, and he was elected by Congress as planned. Ranieri Mazzilli, therefore,
remained as Acting President only for two weeks, until the inauguration of Castelo Branco on 15 April 1964.
ab. Alkmin was a PSD member; when the PSD was abolished in 1965, he joined ARENA.
ac. A military junta composed of the Ministers in charge of the three branches of the Armed Forces assumed the powers of the
presidency on 31 August 1969 after President Costa e Sliva suffered a cerebral thrombosis that left him completely incapacitated.
The military junta seized power so as to prevent Vice President Pedro Aleixo, a civilian, from becoming acting president. The
possibility of a civilian, even a conservative one, assuming the powers of the presidency was seen as detrimental to the continuity
of the military regime. In the initial stage of the President's disease, the junta hoped that he would recover. Subsequently, realizing
that the President's condition was irreversible, and that the prolonged continuity of a triumvirate was detrimental to the regime and
to its image, the military junta issued an institutional act on 14 October 1969 removing the incapacitated President and the Vice
President from office and summoning Congress to elect a new President and Vice President. The military elite that controlled the
regime then selected General Emílio Garrastazu Médici to be ARENA's candidate, and his name was rubber-stamped by
Congress. The junta remained in place until the new President was sworn-in. In 2011, Brazil enacted a Federal Law recognizing
the illegality of the acts that prevented Vice President Pedro Aleixo from becoming Acting President and that removed him from
office; the statute also directs that Pedro Aleixo be deemed a former President of the Republic. Costa e Silva died less than three
months after his removal, and were it not for the military acts now declared illegal that removed him from the vice-presidency,
Pedro Aleixo would have succeeded to the presidency.
ad. Brazilian Federal Law number 12.486, promulgated on 12 September 2011 posthumously recognizes the illegality of the acts (see
above) that prevented Vice-President Pedro Aleixo from becoming acting president and that removed him from office, and directs
that he be deemed and taken as a former President of the Republic for all legal purposes.
ae. The Third Army, a Regional Command of the Brazilian Army, has been renamed in 1985 and is currently titled as the Southern
Military Command.
af. Tancredo Neves died before taking office, but more than one month after the start of his presidential term. The Constitution
required the President and Vice President to be invested in their offices by taking the oath of office in the presence of a joint
session of Congress. President-elect Tancredo Neves, suffering from the consequences of a tumor that was then misdiagnosed as
acute diverticulitis, became gravely ill on 14 March 1985, on the eve of his inauguration, so that he could not attend the inaugural
ceremonies in Congress, because his doctors concluded that he required emergency surgery. José Sarney, his running mate,
accordingly appeared before Congress alone on the day of Neves's would-be inauguration, took office as Vice President and
served as Acting President from start of the new presidential term, on 15 March 1985, until the day the President-elect died.
Initially, there was hope that the President-elect would recover and take office, but he developed several complications and
infections, and underwent several other operations, ultimately resulting in his death. Upon Neves's death on 21 April 1985, Acting
President Sarney succeeded to the presidency. On the first anniversary of Neves's death a statute was signed into Law (federal
law 7.465/1986), establishing that Tancredo Neves "elected but not sworn-in due to his death" should be included in the gallery of
the presidents of Brazil "for all legal purposes".
ag. President Collor was impeached on corruption charges. On 29 September 1992, the Chamber of Deputies voted, by the required
two-thirds majority of its members, to allow the charges against the President to be presented to the Senate. On 1 October 1992
the Senate voted to receive the charges and proceed with the trial. On 2 October 1992, upon receiving the formal writ of summons
notifying him that he was now a defendant in the impeachment trial that the Senate would conduct, President Collor was
automatically suspended from office for 180 days as provided in the Constitution of Brazil and Vice President Itamar Franco
became Acting President. On 29 December 1992, on the final day of his trial of impeachment before the Federal Senate,
President Collor resigned the presidency, in an attempt to stop the process. The Senate's session as a Court of Impeachment was
suspended and two successive joint sessions of Congress were held, one shortly after the other: in the first joint session,
President Collor's resignation letter was formally read before Congress by its First Secretary and entered the congressional
record, and the presidential resignation thereby took legal effect, resulting in the formal declaration by the President of Congress
to the assembled joint session, that the presidency of the Republic was vacant, and that, as a result of that vacancy, Acting
President Franco would be summoned at once, as Collor's legal successor, to take the constitutional oath and assume the
Presidency; in the second joint session of Congress, Acting President Itamar Franco was accordingly sworn-in as President, as
required by the Constitution. Later in the same day, the Senate resumed its sitting as a Court of Impeachment, and it decided that
the President's resignation after the start of the trial could not stop the process, given that the determination of the former
President's guilt or innocence was relevant for the purposes of imposing on him the penalty of disqualification from holding public
office for eight years. Accordingly, the trial of impeachment continued in spite of Collor's resignation and, in the early hours of 30
December 1992 he was found guilty of the charges, by the required majority of more than two thirds of the members of the
Senate. The penalty of removal from office was declared moot as Collor had already resigned, but as a result of his conviction by
the Senate he was disqualified for holding public office for eight years. The Senate's sentence in the trial of impeachment,
imposing upon Collor the said penalty, was pronounced on 30 December 1992 and published in the Official Journal on 31
December 1992. Accordingly, Collor remained disqualified from holding public office until 31 December 2000.
ah. Itamar Franco joined the PRN for the 1989 election to run as Collor's running mate. In office, he broke with Collor, and left the
PRN on 5 May 1992, returning to the PMDB.
ai. Franco was born on board a ship off the eastern coast of Brazil, sailing between Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. His birth was
registered at Salvador.
aj. On 2 December 2015 the President of the Chamber of Deputies decided to accept, for the consideration of that assembly, a
petition presenting charges of impeachment against President Dilma Rousseff, on the grounds of having violated the 2015
budgetary law and fiscal responsibility norms. On 17 April 2016, the Chamber of Deputies voted, by the required two-thirds
majority of its members, to allow the charges against the President to be presented to the Senate. On 12 May 2016 the Senate
voted to receive the charges and proceed with the trial. On the same date, upon receiving the formal writ of summons notifying her
that she was now a defendant in the impeachment trial that the Senate would conduct, President Rousseff's powers and duties
were suspended for 180 days as provided in the Constitution of Brazil, and Vice-President Michel Temer became Acting President.
On 31 August 2016 the Brazilian Federal Senate, sitting as a judicial body, voted, by the required two-thirds majority of its
members, to convict the President and to remove her from office. The penalty of disqualification from holding public office for eight
years was not imposed on the former President, because the majority of two-thirds of the members of the Senate was not reached
in the specific vote on that penalty. As a result of the vacancy of the Presidency, Acting President Michel Temer succeeded to the
office, being sworn-in as President before a joint session of Congress also on 31 August 2016.
ak. When Michel Temer became President, his Party was still named Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). During his
tenure in office, on 19 December 2017, the Party's National Convention altered the Party's Articles of Incorporation, changing its
name back to Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the same name that the Party had borne from 1965 to 1981.
al. Close to Alliance for Brazil.

References
1. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2011-2014/2011/Lei/L12486.htm

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_presidents_of_Brazil&oldid=1022498705"

This page was last edited on 10 May 2021, at 21:02 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;

additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.