Below is a list of heads of state and heads of government of Brazil. This is the list of heads of state of Brazil, which brings together monarchs and presidents who held the head of state in Brazil during all historical periods in the country's history.
House of Avis
See also: List of Portuguese monarchs. Brazil is discovered by Portuguese navigators on April 22, 1500, and becomes a Portuguese colony.
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg, known as the Philippine Dynasty, is the house that ruled Portugal from 1581 to 1640. The dynasty began with the acclamation of Philip II of Spain as Philip I of Portugal in 1580, officially recognized in 1581 by the Portuguese Cortes of Tomar. Philip I swore to rule Portugal as a kingdom separate from his Spanish domains, under the personal union known as the Iberian Union.
House of Braganza
See main article: articles and State of Brazil. The House of Braganza, also known as the Brigantine Dynasty, came to power in 1640, when John II, Duke of Braganza, claimed to be the rightful heir of the defunct House of Aviz, as he was the great great grandson of King Manuel I. John was proclaimed King John IV, and he deposed the House of Habsburg in the Portuguese Restoration War.
See main article: articles and Kingdom of Brazil. The house of Braganza continued to rule over Brazil, and on 16 December 1815, the Prince Regent John, the future king John VI raised Brazil to the status of a kingdom, thus making his mother, Maria I, the reigning Queen, the first Monarch of Brazil. The next year, 20 March 1816, John succeeded his mother as King of the united Luso-Brazilian monarchy.
See main article: articles. The house of Braganza continued to rule over Brazil after Pedro I, son of John VI, was acclaimed the first Emperor of Brazil on 12 October 1822, having proclaimed the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from Portugal. He was later succeeded on 7 April 1831 by his son Pedro II, the last monarch of Brazil, who reigned for 58 years.
See main article: First Brazilian Republic.
On 15 November 1889, an unpopular coup d'état led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca deposed Emperor Pedro II and extinguished the stable 74-year-old Brazilian monarchy. The parliamentary monarch system was replaced by a presidential republic.
See main article: Vargas Era.
The Vargas Era, also known as the Second Brazilian Republic and Third Brazilian Republic, began following the Brazilian revolution of 1930. Washington Luís was deposed on 24 October, and the Brazilian Military Junta took power. Vargas assumed leadership of the junta on 3 November 1930.
| Portrait | President | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| — | Tasso Fragoso | — | 24 October 1930 | 3 November 1930 | None | |||||
| Isaías de Noronha | ||||||||||
| Mena Barreto | ||||||||||
| 14 | Getúlio Vargas | 1934 | 20 July 1934 | 29 October 1945 | None | |||||
| 15 | José Linhares | — | 29 October 1945 | 30 January 1946 | None | |||||
See main article: Fourth Brazilian Republic.
The Republic of 46 or the Fourth Brazilian Republic began after Vargas was deposed by a military coup in 1945. Nevertheless, Vargas would be elected president once again in 1950 until his later suicide, with his influence in Brazilian politics remaining until the end of the Fourth republic.
| Portrait | President | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| 16 | Eurico Gaspar Dutra | 1945 | 31 January 1946 | 30 January 1951 | 5 years | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | |||
| Nereu Ramos | |||||||||
| 17 | Getúlio Vargas | 1950 | 31 January 1951 | 24 August 1954 | Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) | Café Filho | |||
| 18 | João Café Filho | — | 3 September 1954 | 30 January 1956 | Social Progressive Party (PSP) | ||||
| 19 | Carlos Luz | — | 8 November 1955 | 11 November 1955 | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | ||||
| 20 | Nereu Ramos | — | 11 November 1955 | 30 January 1956 | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | ||||
| 21 | Juscelino Kubitschek | 1955 | 31 January 1956 | 30 January 1961 | 5 years | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | João Goulart | ||
| 22 | Jânio Quadros | 1960 | 31 January 1961 | 25 August 1961 | National Labor Party (PTN) | ||||
| 23 | Ranieri Mazzilli | — | 25 August 1961 | 7 September 1961 | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | ||||
| 24 | João Goulart | — | 7 September 1961 | 1 April 1964 | Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) | ||||
See main article: Brazilian military regime.
The Forth Republic would end after a military coup in 1964. This coup brought a military regime to power in Brazil that was politically aligned with the interests of the US government.[1] [2]
| Portrait | President | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| 25 | Ranieri Mazzilli | — | 2 April 1964 | 14 April 1964 | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | |||||
| 26 | Humberto Castelo Branco | 1964 | 15 April 1964 | 15 March 1967 | National Renewal Alliance (ARENA) (military) | José Maria Alkmin | ||||
| 27 | Artur da Costa e Silva | 1966 | 15 March 1967 | 31 August 1969 14 October 1969 | Pedro Aleixo | |||||
| — | Pedro Aleixo[3] | — | Never took office. | National Renewal Alliance (ARENA) | ||||||
| — | Augusto Rademaker | — | 31 August 1969 | 30 October 1969 | None (military junta) | |||||
| Aurélio de Lira Tavares | ||||||||||
| Márcio Melo | ||||||||||
| 28 | Emílio Garrastazu Médici | 1969 | 30 October 1969 | 14 March 1974 | National Renewal Alliance (ARENA) (military) | Augusto Rademaker | ||||
| 29 | Ernesto Geisel | 1974 | 15 March 1974 | 14 March 1979 | 5 years | Adalberto Pereira dos Santos | ||||
| 30 | João Figueiredo | 1978 | 15 March 1979 | 14 March 1985 | 6 years | Democratic Social Party (PDS) (military) | Aureliano Chaves | |||
See main article: articles and History of Brazil (1985–present). The military dictatorship lasted 21 years, until 1985, when Neves was indirectly elected Brazil's first civilian preTime in officesident since the 1960 elections. Known also as the Sixth Brazilian Republic or the New Republic, is the contemporary epoch in the history of Brazil.
| Portrait | President | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| — | Tancredo Neves | 1985 | Never took office. | José Sarney | ||||||
| 31 | José Sarney | — | 21 April 1985 | 14 March 1990 | 5 years | |||||
| 32 | Fernando Collor de Mello | 1989 | 15 March 1990 | 29 December 1992 | Itamar Franco | |||||
| 33 | Itamar Franco | — | 29 December 1992 | 31 December 1994 | ||||||
| 34 | Fernando Henrique Cardoso | 1994 1998 | 1 January 1995 | 31 December 2002 | 8 years | Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) | Marco Maciel | |||
| 35 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | 2002 2006 | 1 January 2003 | 31 December 2010 | 8 years | Workers' Party (PT) | José Alencar | |||
| 36 | Dilma Rousseff | 2010 2014 | 1 January 2011 | 31 August 2016 | Workers' Party (PT) | Michel Temer | ||||
| 37 | Michel Temer | — | Acting President from 12 May 2016 31 August 2016 | 31 December 2018 | Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) | |||||
| 38 | Jair Bolsonaro | 2018 | 1 January 2019 | 31 December 2022 | 4 years | Hamilton Mourão | ||||
| 39 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | 2022 | 1 January 2023 | Incumbent | Workers' Party (PT) | Geraldo Alckmin | ||||