| Election Name: | 1948 Czechoslovak presidential election |
| Country: | Czech Republic |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1946 Czechoslovak presidential election |
| Previous Year: | 1946 |
| Next Election: | 1953 Czechoslovak presidential election |
| Next Year: | 1953 |
| Election Date: | 14 June 1948 |
| Nominee1: | Klement Gottwald |
| Party1: | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
| Electoral Vote1: | 296 |
| Percentage1: | 100% |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Edvard Beneš |
| Before Party: | Czechoslovak National Socialist Party |
| After Election: | Klement Gottwald |
| After Party: | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
The 1948 Czechoslovak presidential election took place on 14 June 1948. Klement Gottwald was elected the first Communist president of Czechoslovakia.[1]
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia finished first in the 1946 parliamentary election and formed a new government with party leader Klement Gottwald as Prime Minister. The party used its influence to take over the country in a 1948 coup d'etat.[2] The incumbent president Edvard Beneš was unable to resist and resigned on 7 June 1948.[3] In accordance with the 1920 Constitution, Gottwald took over most presidential duties pending the election of a permanent successor.
When negotiations began, two candidates were proposed–Gottwald and Culture Minister Zdeněk Nejedlý. It was eventually decided that Gottwald would be nominated in order to legitimate the Communist regime.[4]