Under the Colombian Constitution of 1991, the president of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. As chief of the executive branch and head of the national government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in Colombia by influence and recognition. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the Military Forces of Colombia. The president is directly elected to a four-year term in a popular election. Since the passing of the Legislative Act 2 of 2004, no person may be elected president more than twice. In 2015, a constitutional amendment repealed the 2004 changes and reverted to the original one-term limit. Upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the vice president assumes the office. The president must be at least 30 years of age and a "natural-born" citizen of Colombia.

List of presidents during the War of Independence

Colombian War of Independence (1810–1819) The official list of presidents usually begins with Simón Bolívar as the first president of Colombia in 1819, which is generally regarded as the year in which Colombia achieved its full independence. However, there were several previous politicians, military commanders and officeholders that ruled the nation during the Colombian War of Independence, covering the period between 1810 and 1819. The following is a list of those rulers prior to 1819, considered official by various sources in Colombia, such as the Bank of the Republic, among others.

The following were the leaders who exercised executive power during the First Republic, either as presidents of the Supreme Junta of Santa Fe (1810–1811), presidents of the State of Cundinamarca (1811–1814) or presidents of the Congress of the United Provinces of New Granada (1811–1816). Between 1810 and 1813, these rulers exercised power under a de jure constitutional monarchy in personal union with Spain, recognising Ferdinand VII of Spain as their legitimate monarch. However, full independence from Spain and from any other foreign nation was declared in 1813 and the subsequent rulers exercised their power under various types of republican forms of government. Also, between 1811 and 1814, a civil war was waged between the Free State of Cundinamarca, who supported a centralist government for New Granada, and the United Provinces of New Granada, who supported a federalist government. The federalists won the conflict, with the help of Simón Bolívar, after marching on Bogotá on December 1814.

New Kingdom of Granada (1810–1813) • Supreme Governing Junta of Santa Fe in the New Kingdom of Granada • No. Portrait Name Place of birth Elected Took office Left office Political party Monarch — Antonio José Amar y Borbón Aragon 1810 20 July 1810 25 July 1810 None Ferdinand VII 1 José Miguel Pey Santa Fe 1810 25 July 1810 1 April 1811 None Ferdinand VII

Free and Independent State of Cundinamarca (1810–1814) • Free and Independent State of Cundinamarca • No. Portrait Name Place of birth Elected Took office Left office Political party Monarch 1 Jorge Tadeo Lozano Santa Fe Apr 1811 1 April 1811 29 September 1811 None Ferdinand VII 2 Antonio Nariño Santa Fe Sep 1811 30 September 1811 13 August 1813 None Ferdinand VII 3 Manuel Bernardo Álvarez Santa Fe 1813 13 August 1813 12 December 1814 None

United Provinces of New Granada (1811–1816) • United Provinces of New Granada • No. Portrait Name Place of birth Elected Took office Left office Political party — Antonio Nariño Santa Fe 1811 27 November 1811 27 October 1812 None 1 Camilo Torres Tenorio Popayán 1812 27 October 1812 5 October 1814 None 2 José María del Castillo y Rada Cartagena 1814 5 October 1814 25 January 1815 None José Fernández Madrid Cartagena None Joaquín Camacho Tunja None Custodio García Róvira Pamplona 1814 25 November 1814 25 March 1815 None José Miguel Pey Santa Fe 1815 25 March 1815 15 November 1815 None Crisanto Valenzuela Socorro 1815 25 July 1815 17 August 1815 None Manuel Rodríguez Torices Cartagena 1815 28 July 1815 15 November 1815 None Antonio Villavicencio Quito 1815 17 August 1815 15 November 1815 None 3 Camilo Torres Tenorio Popayán 1815 15 November 1815 12 March 1816 None 4 José Fernández Madrid Cartagena 1816 14 March 1816 22 June 1816 None 5 Custodio García Róvira Pamplona 1816 22 June 1816 16 July 1816 None 6 Fernando Serrano Uribe Pamplona 1816 16 July 1816 16 September 1816 None — Juan Nepomuceno Moreno Casanare 1818 18 December 1818 10 September 1819 None

Official list of presidents

Republic of Colombia (1819–1831)

This list includes those persons who were sworn into or forcibly took the office of president of the Republic of Colombia following the passing of the Colombian Constitution of Cúcuta, which took effect on 30 August 1821. The Republic of Colombia of 1821–1831 is now commonly referred to as the Gran Colombia to differentiate it from the present-day Republic of Colombia. Gran Colombia was the union of the territories that comprised the Viceroyalty of the New Granada under the uti possidetis principle, and it included the political entities that had formed in the New Granada after the initial wars of independence of 1810 against the Kingdom of Spain under King Joseph I; those included the Second Republic of Venezuela, the United Provinces of New Granada, the Presidency of Quito, and the Royal Audiencia of Panama.

The presidency dates back to the Congress of Angostura. This quasi-constituent assembly was formed to lay the ground work for a self-ruled governing administration after independence. The Constituent Assembly was formed by regional leaders that represented areas under rebel control; these areas did not include parts of what is now Colombia, as those areas were still under Spanish control, but aimed to legislate on its behalf. Congress elected an interim-executive officer and vested this figure with the title of president. Chosen to be first president of Colombia, was General Simón Bolívar y Palacios, leader of the revolutionary forces, who up to that point was titled "Supreme Chief" for his role in the revolution. The following day, Congress elected Francisco Antonio Zea Díaz, first vice president of Colombia. Bolívar was subsequently re-elected interim president by the Angostura Assembly on after Colombia was conquered following the Battle of Boyacá, and elected again in 1821 in a permanent interim basis, pending national elections, by the Congress of Cúcuta, another constituent assembly mandated by the Angostura Assembly, and this time with elected officials representing the Colombian territories, during this time, and until 1826, the executive power was entrusted to the vice president Francisco de Paula Santander y Omaña, while Bolívar was away in battle fighting to liberate Spanish colonies in Bolivia, and Peru. Bolívar was formally elected in a national election in 1826 for a period of four years, but on 27 August 1828, Bolívar declared martial law and assumed dictatorship style powers after the Congress of Ocaña failed to pass a new constitution. Bolívar eventually relinquished power in 1830, and Congress elected Joaquín de Mosquera y Arboleda as his successor, but was shortly deposed by General Rafael Urdaneta y Faría who hoped Bolívar would once again re-take power, but Bolívar not only declined the presidency, but also shortly died, leaving Urdaneta with no mandate for power. Urdaneta ceded executive-power to the vice president Domingo Caycedo y Sanz de Santamaría, as Congress had impeached Mosquera for his failure to prevent the coup; during this time, and until 1832 the presidency remained vacant as there was no law for succession of power. In 1832, former vice president Santander was elected by Congress as president of Gran Colombia, and it would be the last, since the territories of Venezuela and Ecuador broke away, which prompted the drafting of a new constitution.

• Republic of Colombia • No. Portrait Name Elected Took office Left office Tenure Political party Vice President 1 SimónBolívar y Palacios 1819 15 February 1819 4 May 1830 Independent Francisco Antonio Zea DíazJuan Germán Roscio NievesOffice vacantAntonio Nariño y ÁlvarezJosé María del Castillo y RadaFrancisco de Paula SantanderOffice vacant 1821 1825 2 Joaquínde Mosquera y Arboleda 1830 4 May 1830 4 September 1830 Independent Domingo Caycedo 3 RafaelUrdaneta y Faría — 4 September 1830 30 April 1831 Independent Office suspendedOffice vacant— 30 April 1831 10 March 1832 N/A Domingo CaycedoJosé María Obando del Campo 4 Francisco de PaulaSantander y Omaña 1832 10 March 1832 1 April 1837 Independent José Ignacio de Márquez

Republic of New Granada (1832–1858) This list includes those persons who were sworn into or forcibly took the office of president of the Republic of New Granada following the passing of the Colombian Constitution of 1832, which took effect on 26 November 1832.

There were 8 people in office serving a presidency each. All were popularly elected under an electoral college system except one, José María Melo y Ortiz who took power by mounting a coup d'état. Francisco de Paula Santander y Omaña, the first president, served initially on a provisional basis but in 1833 began a regular four-year term as president of the Republic of New Granada, to which he was popularly elected. Santander spent the longest time in office with 5 years and 22 days. José María Obando del Campo spent the shortest time in office with just 1 year and 6 days before being deposed.

The president and the vice president were elected separately two years apart for a period of four years each, resulting in a president having two vice presidents given normal circumstances. The Colombian Constitution of 1832, just like its predecessor, did not provide for a way to fill a vacancy in the presidency or the vicepresidency until the next electoral period, because of this the presidency was vacant between 1854 and 1857 when Melo, who had deposed President Obando in a coup, handed power to the previous administration; Obando would have taken back the presidency, but he had been impeached by Congress and hence there was no president to take power. During this time Vice President José de Obaldía y Orejuela served as acting president until the end of his term, at which point the newly elected vice president Manuel María Mallarino Ibargüen served as acting president for the remainder of the term Obando had been elected for until 1857 when Mariano Ospina Rodríguez was elected. The vice presidency was also vacant between 1837 and 1839, when Vice President José Ignacio de Márquez Barreto was elected president and the post remained vacant until the next vice presidencial election in 1839.

Political parties

• Republic of New Granada • No. Portrait Name Elected Took office Left office Tenure Political party Vice President 1 Francisco de PaulaSantander y Omaña 1832 10 March 1832 1 April 1837 Independent José Ignacio de MárquezJoaquín Mariano MosqueraJosé Ignacio de Márquez 1833 2 José Ignaciode Márquez Barreto 1837 1 April 1837 1 April 1841 4 years, 0 days Independent Office vacantDomingo Caycedo 3 Pedro AlcántaraHerrán Martínez 1841 1 April 1841 1 April 1845 4 years, 0 days Independent Domingo CaycedoJoaquín José Gori 4 Tomás Ciprianode Mosquera y Arboleda 1845 1 April 1845 1 April 1849 4 years, 0 days Independent Joaquín José GoriRufino Cuervo y Barreto José HilarioLópez Valdéz 1849 1 April 1849 1 April 1853 4 years, 0 days Liberal Rufino Cuervo y BarretoJosé de Obaldía y Orejuela José MaríaObando del Campo 1853 1 April 1853 17 April 1854 Liberal José de Obaldía y Orejuela José MaríaMelo y Ortiz — 17 April 1854 4 December 1854 Liberal José de Obaldía y OrejuelaOffice vacant — 4 December 1854 1 April 1857 N/A José de Obaldía y OrejuelaManuel María Mallarino MarianoOspina Rodríguez 1857 1 April 1857 1 April 1861 4 years, 0 days Conservative Manuel María Mallarino

Granadine Confederation (1858–1863)