This article lists the presidents of Brazil. The president of the Federative Republic of Brazil is the chief executive of the federal government of Brazil and the commander in chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces.

Pre-Republican Brazil (1815–1889) Brazil had two monarchs during the time of the Kingdom of Brazil, a constituent kingdom under the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves: Maria I (1815–1816) and John VI (1816–1822). When this kingdom was created, Queen Maria I was already considered incapable due to mental illness, and the Portuguese Empire was ruled by Prince John, later King John VI, as regent. As the independent Empire of Brazil, Brazil had two monarchs, Emperors Pedro I (1822–1831) and Pedro II (1831–1889). The second woman to rule Brazil after Maria I was Empress Leopoldina of Austria, who acted as regent in 1822 and had a great influence on Brazil's independence, having been responsible for signing the decree that separated Brazil from Portugal, creating the independent Empire of Brazil.

Having proclaimed the independence of the Empire of Brazil from Portugal in 1822, Prince Pedro, son of King John VI, was acclaimed the first Emperor of Brazil on 12 October 1822. After abdicating the throne on 7 April 1831, he was succeeded by his son, Prince Pedro de Alcântara, who reigned as Pedro II of Brazil. The third woman to rule Brazil was Princess Isabel, heir presumptive to the throne, who acted as regent of Brazil in various periods (1870–1871, 1876–1877, and 1887–1888) while her father, Emperor Pedro II, performed foreign visits. During her last regency, she sanctioned the Golden Law (Imperial Law No. 3,353 of 13 May 1888), which abolished slavery in Brazil. Emperor Pedro II was deposed on 15 November 1889 in a bloodless military coup d'état, ending the 74-year-old monarchy.

First Republic (1889–1930)

In 1889, the Empire of Brazil was abolished and replaced with a republic in a bloodless coup d'état led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, who deposed Emperor Pedro II, proclaimed Brazil a republic, and formed a provisional government. The 15 November 1889 military coup 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 into the abolition of the Brazilian monarchy.

With the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic, the Imperial 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, Deodoro da Fonseca ruled by decree, holding both the functions of head of state and head of government. The former imperial provinces were reorganized as states and the newly proclaimed republic was declared a federation, formed by the union of those states.

In 1890, elections for a Constituent Congress were summoned and held, but the decree of the provisional government which 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 1891, a new Brazilian Constitution was adopted, based on the Constitution of the United States of America. The country itself was named 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 vote, but, for the first presidential term, both the president and vice president would be elected 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 of the Constitution, Congress elected the then head of the provisional government, Deodoro da Fonseca, as the first President of Brazil. Marshal Floriano Peixoto was elected by Congress as the first vice president. The inauguration of the first president and of the first vice president was held on 26 February 1891, just two days after the promulgation of the new Constitution. Deodoro soon resigned from the presidency ten months later, after a coup d'état in which he dissolved Congress was reversed. Floriano Peixoto was then inaugurated as president. In 1894, Peixoto was succeeded by Prudente de Morais, the first President Brazil to be elected by direct popular ballot. 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 of Brazil.

Although it was theoretically a constitutional democracy, the First 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 local land owners, as 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, ending the First Republic. Washington Luís, who was supported by the São Paulo oligarchies, broke the expected alternation between São Paulo and Minas Gerais by supporting another candidate from São Paulo, Júlio Prestes. Prestes won the 1930 election, but Washington Luís was deposed three weeks before the end of his term, and Prestes was never inaugurated.

Political parties

Portrait President Elected Term of office Political party Vice president Took office Left office Time in office 1 Deodoro da Fonseca 1891 15 November 1889 23 November 1891 Unaffiliated Vacant until26 February 1891Floriano Peixoto 2 Floriano Peixoto 1891 23 November 1891 15 November 1894 Unaffiliated Vacant throughoutpresidency 3 Prudente de Morais 1894 15 November 1894 15 November 1898 4 years PR Federal Manuel Vitorino 4 Campos Sales 1898 15 November 1898 15 November 1902 4 years PRP Rosa e Silva 5 Rodrigues Alves 1902 15 November 1902 15 November 1906 4 years PRP Afonso Pena 6 Afonso Pena 1906 15 November 1906 14 June 1909 PRM Nilo Peçanha 7 Nilo Peçanha 1906 14 June 1909 15 November 1910 PRF Vacant throughoutpresidency 8 Hermes da Fonseca 1910 15 November 1910 15 November 1914 4 years PRC Venceslau Brás 9 Venceslau Brás 1914 15 November 1914 15 November 1918 4 years PRM Urbano Santos — Rodrigues Alves 1918Never took office PRP Delfim Moreira 10 Delfim Moreira 1918 15 November 1918 28 July 1919 PRM Vacant throughoutpresidency 11 Epitácio Pessoa 1919 28 July 1919 15 November 1922 PRM Delfim MoreiraBueno de Paiva 12 Artur Bernardes 1922 15 November 1922 15 November 1926 4 years PRM Estácio Coimbra 13 Washington Luís 1926 15 November 1926 24 October 1930 PRP Melo Viana — Júlio Prestes 1930Never took office PRP Vital Soares

Vargas Era (1930–1946)

The Vargas Era consisted of two distinct republics: the Second Republic (1930–1937) and Third Republic (1937–1946). Prior to 1929, Brazilian politics was controlled by an alliance between the two largest state economies; known as "coffee with milk politics", coffee growers in São Paulo combined with the dairy industry centred in Minas Gerais to create an oligarchy, with the presidency alternating between the two states. This practice was broken when the leaders of São Paulo and President Washington Luís nominated their fellow Paulista Júlio Prestes as their candidate for the presidential election in March 1930. In response, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and Paraíba formed the "Liberal Alliance", backing opposition candidate Getúlio Vargas.

When Prestes won the 1930 presidential election, the Liberal Alliance denounced his victory as fraudulent, while Vargas's running mate, João Pessoa, was assassinated in July. A revolution then began on 3 October 1930 and quickly spread throughout the country; by 10 October, both Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais had announced their support. Washington Luís was deposed on 24 October, and the Brazilian military junta of 1930 took over; Vargas assumed leadership of the junta on 3 November 1930, marking the end of the First Brazilian Republic and beginning of the Vargas Era.

The 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution led to the adoption of a new Constitution in 1934. However, this constitution was annulled, and Vargas became a dictator in the name of law and order through the dictatorial 1937 Constitution. His rule occupied two periods of Brazilian history, the Second Brazilian Republic and the Third Brazilian Republic, better known as the Estado Novo. Vargas was later deposed by another military coup d'état in 1945, led by his ex-supporters.

Second Republic (1930–1937)

Portrait President Elected Term of office Political party Vice president Took office Left office Time in office — Military junta of 1930 — 24 October 1930 3 November 1930 Unaffiliated Vacant throughoutleadership 14 Getúlio Vargas 1934 3 November 1930 10 November 1937 Unaffiliated Vacant throughoutpresidency

Estado Novo (1937–1946)

Portrait President Elected Term of office Political party Vice president Took office Left office Time in office (14) Getúlio Vargas — 10 November 1937 29 October 1945 () Unaffiliated Vacant throughoutpresidency 15 José Linhares — 29 October 1945 31 January 1946 Unaffiliated Vacant throughoutpresidency

Fourth Republic (1946–1964)

In 1945, Vargas was overthrown by a military coup d'état led by his ex-supporters, leading to the adoption of the new 1946 Constitution. 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, the PTB and in the centre-right, the 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's 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's 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 therefore not subject to a Congressional vote, needing no confirmation, and that the President's declaration of resignation was final.