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Liberia

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The following is a list of Presidents of the Republic of Liberia, made up of the 24 heads of state in the history of Liberia. At the foundation of the Republic the term of office was two years, which was increased to four years on May 7, 1907.¹ This list includes only presidents sworn in after the declaration of independence of Liberia on July 26, 1847. From 1980 to 2006, the office was interrupted three times due to a 1980 coup d'etat, and the First and Second Liberian Civil War. The heads of state of Liberia during these periods are shown on a separate list below the list of presidents. Samuel Doe served as both Head of People's Redemption Council and President of Liberia; he is therefore placed on both lists in his respective roles. Furthermore, both Joseph Jenkins Roberts and James Spriggs-Payne served non-consecutive terms and are each counted twice in the list. Because of this, the list below contains 24 presidencies, but only 22 people.

The colors indicate the political party affiliation of each President.

List of Presidents of Liberia

#	President		Took office	Left office	Party	Vice President(s)
1	Joseph Jenkins Roberts		January 3, 1848	January 7, 1856	none (Republican policies)	Stephen Allen Benson
2	Stephen Allen Benson		January 7, 1856	January 4, 1864	none (Republican policies)	Beverley Yates
3	Daniel Bashiel Warner		January 4, 1864	January 6, 1868	Republican Party	James M. Priest
4	James Spriggs-Payne		January 6, 1868	January 3, 1870	Republican Party	Vacant
5	Edward James Roye		January 3, 1870	October 26, 1871[A]	True Whig Party	James Skivring Smith
6	James Skivring Smith2		November 4, 1871	January 1, 1872	True Whig Party	Anthony W. Gardiner
7	Joseph Jenkins Roberts(2nd time)		March 1, 1872	January 3, 1876	Republican Party	Anthony W. Gardiner
8	James Spriggs-Payne(2nd time)		January 3, 1876	January 7, 1878	Republican Party	Vacant
9	Anthony W. Gardiner		January 7, 1878	January 20, 1883[R]	True Whig Party	Alfred Francis Russell
10	Alfred F. Russell		January 20, 1883	January 7, 1884	True Whig Party	John Tyler
11	Hilary R. W. Johnson		January 7, 1884	January 4, 1892	True Whig Party	Vacant
12	Joseph James Cheeseman		January 4, 1892	November 12, 1896[D]	True Whig Party	William D. Coleman
13	William D. Coleman		November 12, 1896	December 11, 1900[R]	True Whig Party	J. J. Ross
14	Garretson W. Gibson		December 11, 1900	January 4, 1904	True Whig Party	Vacant
15	Arthur Barclay		January 4, 1904	January 1, 1912	True Whig Party	J. J. Dossen
16	Daniel E. Howard		January 1, 1912	January 5, 1920	True Whig Party	Samuel George Harmon
17	Charles D.B. King		January 5, 1920	December 3, 1930[R]	True Whig Party	Samuel Alfred Ross(1920-1924) Henry Too Wesley
18	Edwin Barclay		December 3, 1930	January 3, 1944	True Whig Party	James Skivring Smith
19	William V.S. Tubman		January 3, 1944	July 23, 1971[D]	True Whig Party	Clarence Simpson William Richard Tolbert, Jr.
20	William R. Tolbert, Jr.		July 23, 1971	April 12, 1980[A]	True Whig Party	James Edward Greene Bennie Dee Warner
21	Samuel K. Doe3		January 6, 1986	September 9, 1990[A]	National Democratic Party of Liberia	Henry Fumba Moniba
22	Charles G. Taylor		August 2, 1997	August 11, 2003[R]	National Patriotic Party	Enoch Dogolea Moses Blah
23	Moses Blah		August 11, 2003	October 14, 2003[R]	National Patriotic Party	Vacant
24	Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf		January 16, 2006	present	Unity Party	Joseph Nyumah Boakai

• Left office early:

^[A]  Assassinated in a coup d'etat.

^[D]  Died in office of natural causes.

^[R]  Resigned.

Interim and Non-Presidential Heads of State

President		Position	Took office	Left office	Party
Samuel K. Doe		Head of People's Redemption Council	April 12, 1980	January 6, 1986	National Democratic Party of Liberia
Dr. Amos Sawyer		President of the Interim Government of National Unity	November 22, 1990	August 8, 1993	Liberian People's Party
Bismarck Kuyon		Chairman of the Council of State	August 18, 1993	November 13, 1993	None
Philip Banks		Chairman of the Council of State	November 13, 1993	February 28, 1994	None
David D. Kpormakpor		Chairman of the Council of State	February 28, 1994	September 1, 1995	None
Wilton G. S. Sankawulo		Chairman of the Council of State	September 1, 1995	September 3, 1996	None
Ruth Perry		Chairwoman of the Council of State	September 3, 1996	August 2, 1997	None
Gyude Bryant		Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia	October 14, 2003	January 16, 2006	Liberian Action Party

Notes

1. ^ Starr, Frederick (1913) (in English). Liberia: Description, History, Problems. Chicago. p. 256. http://books.google.com/books?id=KjwUAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=history+Liberia+monrovia&as_brr=1&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0. 
2. ^ There has been some confusion as to whether Smith actually served as President of Liberia following the removal of Edward James Roye from office. However, evidence does show that Smith did in fact serve as president from the time of Roye's departure until the inauguration of Joseph Jenkins Roberts.[1]
3. ^ Despite the fact that Doe assumed power immediately after the execution of William R. Tolbert, Jr. on April 12, 1980, he was not in fact sworn in as president until January 6, 1986.[2]

Latest election

See also

• List of Vice-Presidents of Liberia
• Agents and Governors of Liberia
• Politics of Liberia
• History of Liberia

References

• Enno Schulz, "Presidents of Liberia.