President of Liberia

The presidency of Liberia traces its origins to 1847, when the country declared independence and elected Joseph Jenkins Roberts as its first president. For more than a century, political power was dominated by the Americo‑Liberian elite through the True Whig Party, which maintained an unbroken hold on the presidency until 1980. That year marked a major turning point when a military coup led by Samuel Doe ended the one‑party era and ushered in a period of instability that contributed to two civil wars between 1989 and 2003. Following the Accra Peace Agreement, Liberia transitioned back to democratic governance, culminating in the 2005 election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who became Africa’s first elected female head of state. Since then, Liberia has continued to hold multiparty elections and work toward political stabilization, economic recovery, and post‑conflict reconstruction. Former professional footballer George Weah was elected in 2017 as the 25th president of Liberia. Incumbent president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed Executive Order No. 91, thus establishing a Joint Presidential Transition Team, due to the fact that Liberia had "not experienced the transfer of power from one democratically elected president to another democratically elected president for over 70 years".^[2]

The presidency of Liberia is largely modeled on the presidency of the United States.

To be eligible for office under the current Constitution, a presidential candidate must:

• be a natural born citizen of Liberia (per Art, 27(b) of the Constitution, citizenship is limited to "persons who are Negroes or of Negro descent");
• be at least thirty-five years old;
• own real property valued at least $25,000;
• have resided in Liberia for at least ten years.

Additionally, the president may not be from the same county as the vice president of Liberia.

Under the original 1847 Constitution, the president was elected to a two-year term, which was increased to four years on May 7, 1907.^[3] Under this amendment, a new president would serve for eight years and could be re-elected to unlimited four-year terms. During the presidency of William Tolbert, the Constitution was amended to restrict the president to a single eight-year term; by 1976, voices in the legislature were being raised in favor of returning to the previous system, but Tolbert proclaimed his support for the existing system and vowed to veto any constitutional amendments to remove term limits.^[4]

Currently, the president is elected by popular vote to a six-year term and is limited to two terms. Under the 1986 Constitution, presidential elections utilize a two-round system, wherein a second round of voting is held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes if no single candidate obtains a majority in the first round. Each term begins and ends at noon on the third working Monday in January of the year immediately following the elections.^[5] At the time of their inauguration, each president is required under the Constitution to take a presidential oath promising to preserve and defend the Constitution and faithfully execute the law. The oath is administered by the chief justice of Liberia in front of a joint session of the legislature.

In 2006, the Executive Mansion was under renovations due to a fire that damaged parts of the building in July of that year. The office of the president was transferred to the nearby Foreign Ministry building as a result.^[6] On 14 February 2022, the Executive Mansion was reopened.^[7]

Political parties

Other affiliations

Symbols

^† Died in office

More information No., Portrait ...

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Vice President
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876)	January 3, 1848	January 7, 1856	8 years, 4 days		Republican Party	1847		Nathaniel Brander
								1849		Anthony D. Williams
								1851
								1853		Stephen Allen Benson
2		Stephen Allen Benson (1816–1865)	January 7, 1856	January 4, 1864	7 years, 362 days		Republican Party	1855		Beverly Page Yates
								1857
								1859		Daniel Bashiel Warner
								1861
3		Daniel Bashiel Warner (1815–1880)	January 4, 1864	January 6, 1868	4 years, 2 days		Republican Party	1863		James M. Priest
								1865
4		James Spriggs Payne (1819–1882)	January 6, 1868	January 3, 1870	1 year, 362 days		Republican Party	1867		Joseph Gibson
5		Edward James Roye (1815–1872)	January 3, 1870	October 26, 1871 (Deposed)	1 year, 296 days		True Whig Party	1869		James Skivring Smith
—		Chief Executive Committee[8] Members: Reginald A. Sherman, Charles Benedict Dunbar, Amos Herring October 26, 1871 – November 4, 1871			9 days			—	Vacant (October 26, 1871 – January 1, 1872)
6		James Skivring Smith (1825–1892)	November 4, 1871	January 1, 1872	58 days		True Whig Party	—
7		Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876)	January 1, 1872	January 3, 1876	4 years, 2 days		Republican Party	1871		Anthony W. Gardner
								1873
8		James Spriggs Payne (1819–1882)	January 3, 1876	January 7, 1878	2 years, 4 days		Republican Party	1875		Charles Harmon
9		Anthony W. Gardner (1820–1885)	January 7, 1878	January 20, 1883 (Resigned)	5 years, 13 days		True Whig Party	1877		Alfred Francis Russell
								1879
								1881
10		Alfred Francis Russell (1817–1884)	January 20, 1883	January 7, 1884	352 days		True Whig Party		Vacant (January 20, 1883 – January 7, 1884)
11		Hilary R. W. Johnson (1837–1901)	January 7, 1884	January 4, 1892	7 years, 362 days		True Whig Party	1883		James Thompson
								1885
								1887
								1889
12		Joseph James Cheeseman (1843–1896)	January 4, 1892	November 12, 1896[†]	4 years, 313 days		True Whig Party	1891		William D. Coleman
								1893
								1895
13		William D. Coleman (1842–1908)	November 12, 1896	December 11, 1900	4 years, 29 days		True Whig Party		Vacant (November 12, 1896 – January 3, 1898)
								1897		Joseph J. Ross
								1899
									Vacant (October 24, 1899 – January 3, 1902)
14		Garretson W. Gibson (1832–1910)	December 11, 1900	January 4, 1904	3 years, 24 days		True Whig Party
								1901		Joseph D. Summerville
15		Arthur Barclay (1854–1938)	January 4, 1904	January 1, 1912	7 years, 362 days		True Whig Party	1903
									Vacant (July 27, 1905 – January 1, 1906)
								1905		J. J. Dossen
								1907
16		Daniel Edward Howard (1861–1935)	January 1, 1912	January 5, 1920	8 years, 4 days		True Whig Party	1911		Samuel George Harmon
								1915
17		Charles D. B. King (1875–1961)	January 5, 1920	December 3, 1930 (Resigned)	10 years, 332 days		True Whig Party	1919		Samuel Alfred Ross
								1923		Henry Too Wesley
								1927		Allen Yancy
18		Edwin Barclay (1882–1955)	December 3, 1930	January 3, 1944	13 years, 31 days		True Whig Party			James Skivring Smith Jr.
								1931
								1935
19		William Tubman (1895–1971)	January 3, 1944	July 23, 1971[†]	27 years, 201 days		True Whig Party	1943		Clarence Lorenzo Simpson
								1951		William Tolbert
								1955
								1959
								1963
								1967
								1971
20		William Tolbert (1913–1980)	July 23, 1971	April 12, 1980 (Assassinated)	8 years, 264 days		True Whig Party		Vacant (July 23, 1971 – April 1972)
										James Edward Greene
								1975
									Vacant (July 22, 1977 – October 31, 1977)
										Bennie Dee Warner
—		Samuel Doe (1951–1990)	Chairman of the People's Redemption Council April 12, 1980 – January 6, 1986		5 years, 269 days		Military / National Democratic Party
21			January 6, 1986	September 9, 1990 (Assassinated)	4 years, 246 days			1985		Harry Moniba
—		Amos Sawyer (1945–2022)	President of the Interim Government of National Unity September 9, 1990 – March 7, 1994		3 years, 179 days		Liberian People's Party
—		David D. Kpormakpor (1935–2010)	Chairman of the Council of State March 7, 1994 – September 1, 1995		1 year, 178 days		Independent
—		Wilton G. S. Sankawulo (1937–2009)	Chairman of the Council of State September 1, 1995 – September 3, 1996		1 year, 2 days		Independent
—		Ruth Perry (1939–2017)	Chairman of the Council of State September 3, 1996 – August 2, 1997		333 days		Independent
22		Charles Taylor (born 1948)	August 2, 1997	August 11, 2003 (Resigned)	6 years, 9 days		National Patriotic Party	1997		Enoch Dogolea
									Vacant (June 24, 2000 – July 24, 2000)
										Moses Blah
23		Moses Blah (1947–2013)	August 11, 2003	October 14, 2003 (Resigned)	64 days		National Patriotic Party		Vacant (August 11, 2003 – October 14, 2003)
—		Gyude Bryant (1949–2014)	Chairman of the Transitional Government October 14, 2003 – January 16, 2006		2 years, 94 days		Liberian Action Party
24		Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 1938)	January 16, 2006	January 22, 2018	12 years, 6 days		Unity Party	2005		Joseph Boakai
								2011
25		George Weah (born 1966)	January 22, 2018	January 22, 2024	6 years		Congress for Democratic Change	2017		Jewel Taylor
26		Joseph Boakai (born 1944)	January 22, 2024	Incumbent	2 years, 101 days		Unity Party	2023		Jeremiah Koung

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