Since independence in 1844, the Dominican Republic has counted 54 people in the presidential office, whether constitutional, provisional, or interim, divided into 66 periods of government. Likewise, there are also periods in which the head of state role has been exercised by collegiate bodies (such as triumvirates, military juntas, or councils of state).
First Republic (1844–1861)
Central Government Junta Source:
The Central Government Junta was the first body of a collegiate and provisional nature to exercise the executive, legislative and judicial powers of the nascent Dominican state. It was provisionally constituted on 28 February 1844 and subsequently formalized on 1 March 1844; it went through two coups d'état, and finally dissolved with the proclamation of the first Constitution on 6 November 1844.
PortraitNameTerm of officeNotesTook officeLeft officeTime in officeFrancisco del Rosario Sánchez28 February 18441 March 1844Interim president of the Central Government Junta.Tomás Bobadilla1 March 18449 June 1844President of the Central Government Junta. Ousted from office by a coup d'état.Francisco del Rosario Sánchez9 June 184412 July 1844President of the Central Government Junta. Ousted from office by a coup d'état.Pedro Santana12 July 184414 November 1844President of the Central Government Junta.
Presidents Source:
PortraitName ElectedTerm of officeNotesTook officeLeft officeTime in officePedro Santana184414 November 18444 August 1848Resigned.Manuel Jimenes18488 September 184829 May 1849Ousted from office by a coup d'état.Pedro Santana—30 May 184923 September 1849He held the title "Jefe Supremo" (meaning "Supreme Chief" or "Supreme Boss" in English).Santiago EspaillatJuly1849 President-elect Espaillat never took office.—Espaillat was senator for Santiago when he was elected President by the electoral college, but he did not accept the office as he was afraid that his predecessor (Santana) would undermine his ability to govern. Buenaventura BáezAug.184924 September 184915 February 1853Pedro Santana185315 February 185326 May 1856Resigned. Manuel de Regla Mota—2 January 18555 September 1855Vice-president under Pedro Santana. Acting president.—26 May 18568 October 1856Vice-president under Pedro Santana, assumed the presidency after his resignation. Resigned.Buenaventura Báez—8 October 185612 June 1858Vice-president under Manuel de Regla Mota, assumed the presidency after his resignation. Resigned.José Desiderio Valverde—7 July 185731 August 1858Self-appointed president in Santiago de los Caballeros. Pedro Santana—13 June 185831 January 1859 Approved the annexation of the country to Spain.185931 January 185918 March 1861
Spanish annexation (1861–1865)
PortraitNameTerm of officeNotesTook officeLeft officeTime in officePedro Santana18 March 186120 July 1862Captain-General of Santo Domingo. Resigned.Felipe Rivero y Lemoine20 July 186222 October 1863Captain-General of Santo Domingo.Carlos de Vargas y Cerveto23 October 186330 March 1864José de la Gándara y Navarro31 March 186411 July 1865
Dominican Restoration War (1863–1865)
PortraitNameTerm of officeNotesTook officeLeft officeTime in officeJosé Antonio Salcedo14 September 186310 October 1864Gaspar Polanco10 October 186424 January 1865Benigno Filomeno de Rojas24 January 186524 March 1865Pedro Antonio Pimentel25 March 186511 July 1865Spain concedes defeat and orders a withdraw from the island.
Second Republic (1865–1916)
Political parties
PortraitName ElectedTerm of office PoliticalpartyNotesTook officeLeft officeTime in officePedro Antonio Pimentel—11 July 18654 August 1865—Ousted from office by a coup d'état.José María Cabral—4 August 186515 November 1865BlueCabral was proclaimed "Protector of the Republic" until the election of a new president by the National Convention.Pedro Guillermo—15 November 18658 December 1865—Guillermo was appointed as Interim President until the arrival to the Dominican Republic of Buenaventura Báez, who was exiled in Curaçao.Buenaventura Báez18658 December 186529 May 1866RedOusted from office by a coup d'état.Triumvirate—29 May 186622 August 1866—Members: Pedro Antonio Pimentel, Gregorio Luperón, Federico de Jesús García. The Electoral College system was abolished and replaced by universal direct suffrage. José María Cabral—22 August 186629 September 1866 BlueInterim president. 186629 September 186631 January 1868Cabral was the first Dominican president elected by universal direct suffrage. Ousted from office by a coup d'état.Manuel Altagracia Cáceres—31 January 186813 February 1868—Junta of Generals—13 February 18682 May 1868—Members: José Antonio Hungría, Francisco Antonio Gómez Báez, José Ramón Luciano y Franco.Buenaventura Báez18682 May 18682 January 1874RedOusted from office by defeat in the Six Years' War.Ignacio María González—25 November 187321 January 1874GreenSupreme chief.Ignacio María GonzálezManuel Altagracia Cáceres—21 January 18745 February 1874—Generals in charge of the Supreme Power of the Nation.Ignacio María González18745 February 187423 February 1876GreenResigned.Council of Secretaries of State—23 February 187629 April 1876—Members: Pedro Tomás Garrido Matos, José de Jesús Eduardo de Castro Álvarez, Pedro Pablo de Bonilla y Correa-Cruzado, Juan Bautista Zafra y Miranda, Pablo López Villanueva (until 7 March 1876), Jacinto Peynado y Tejón (since 7 March 1876).Ulises Francisco Espaillat187629 April 18765 October 1876BlueOusted from office by a coup d'état.Superior Governing Junta—5 October 187611 November 1876—Members: Pedro Tomás Garrido Matos, José de Jesús Eduardo de Castro Álvarez, Juan Bautista Zafra y Miranda, Pablo López Villanueva, José Caminero Matías, Fidel Rodríguez Urdaneta, Juan Esteban Ariza Matos.Ignacio María González—11 November 18769 December 1876GreenResigned. Marcos Antonio Cabral—10 December 187626 December 1876—President of the Provisional Government Junta.Buenaventura Báez—27 December 18762 March 1878RedOusted from office by a coup d'état.Ignacio María González—1 March 18783 May 1878GreenPresident of the Provisional Government of the National Movement.Council of Secretaries of State—2 March 18785 March 1878—Members: José María Cabral, Joaquín Montolío.Cesáreo Guillermo—5 March 18786 July 1878RedInterim president.Ignacio María González18786 July 18782 September 1878GreenOusted from office by a coup d'état.Superior Leaders of the Revolutionary Movement—2 September 18786 September 1878—Members: Ulises Heureaux, Cesáreo Guillermo.Jacinto de Castro—7 September 187829 September 1878—President of the Supreme Court of Justice. Resigned.Council of Secretaries of State—30 September 187827 February 1879—Members: Cesáreo Guillermo, Alejandro Angulo Guridi, Pedro María Aristy.Cesáreo Guillermo187927 February 18796 December 1879RedOusted from office by a coup d'état.Gregorio Luperón—6 October 18791 September 1880BlueFernando Arturo de Meriño18801 September 18801 September 1882 yearsBlueUlises Heureaux18821 September 18821 September 1884 yearsBlueFrancisco Gregorio Billini18841 September 188416 May 1885BlueResigned.Alejandro Woss y Gil—16 May 18856 January 1887BlueVice-president under Francisco Gregorio Billini, assumed the presidency after his resignation. Ulises Heureaux18866 January 188727 February 1889 Blue188827 February 188927 February 1893189227 February 189327 February 1897189627 February 189726 July 1899Assassinated. Wenceslao Figuereo—26 July 189930 August 1899BlueVice-president under Ulises Heureaux, assumed the presidency after his assassination. Ousted from office by a coup d'état.Council of Secretaries of State— 31 August 1899—Members: Tomás Demetrio Morales, Arístides Patiño, Enrique Henríquez y Alfau, Jaime R. Vidal, Braulio Álvarez.People's Revolutionary Governing Junta—31 August 18994 September 1899—Members: Mariano Cestero, Álvaro Logroño, Arístides Patiño, Pedro María Mejía.Horacio Vásquez—4 September 189915 November 1899RedInterim president.Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra189915 November 18992 May 1902BlueOusted from office by a coup d'état.Horacio Vásquez—26 April 190223 April 1903RedOusted from office by a coup d'état. Alejandro Woss y Gil—23 March 19031 August 1903 BlueInterim president.19031 August 190324 November 1903Ousted from office by a coup d'état. Carlos Felipe Morales—24 November 190317 June 1904 RedInterim president.190417 June 190424 December 1905Resigned.Council of Secretaries of State—24 December 190529 December 1905—Members: Manuel Lamarche García, Emiliano Tejera, Andrés Julio Montolío, Francisco Leonte Vásquez Lajara, Carlos Ginebra, Eladio Victoria, Federico Velásquez y Hernández. Ramón Cáceres—29 December 19051 July 1908 RedVice-president under Carlos Felipe Morales, assumed the presidency after his resignation.19081 July 190819 November 1911Assassinated at the start of the 1911–1912 Civil War.Council of Secretaries of State—19 November 19115 December 1911—Members: Miguel Antonio Román, José María Cabral. Eladio Victoria—5 December 191127 February 1912 —Interim president appointed by the Congress.191227 February 191230 November 1912Resigned at the end of the 1911–1912 Civil War.Adolfo Alejandro Nouel—1 December 191213 April 1913—Archbishop of Santo Domingo, interim president appointed by the Congress. Resigned. José Bordas Valdez—14 April 191315 June 1914 —Interim president appointed by the Congress.June191415 June 191427 August 1914Resigned at the end of the 1914 Civil War. Ramón Báez—28 August 19145 December 1914—Interim president.Juan Isidro Jimenes PereyraOct.19146 December 19144 May 1916Blue
United States occupation (1916–1924)
Political parties
PortraitNameTerm of office PoliticalpartyNotesTook officeLeft officeTime in officeJuan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra4 May 19167 May 1916BlueResigned due to the United States occupation.Council of Secretaries of State7 May 191631 July 1916—Members: Jaime Mota, Bernardo Pichardo, Federico Velásquez y Hernández.Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal31 July 191626 November 1916—Interim president appointed by the Congress. Removed by the United States.Vacant (26 November 1916 – 21 October 1922)Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos21 October 192212 July 1924—Interim president.
Third Republic (1924–1965)
Political parties