President for life
President for life is a title assumed by or granted to some presidents to extend their tenure up until their death or retirement. The title sometimes confers on the holder the right to nominate or appoint a successor. The term is often used by political leaders that aspire to legitimize their absolute power.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Overview
A president for life may be regarded as a de facto autocrat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Many leaders who proclaimed themselves president for life have not in fact successfully gone on to serve a life term. Most were deposed before they died, and others achieved a lifetime presidency by being assassinated while in office. However, some have managed to rule until their natural deaths, including José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia of Paraguay, Alexandre Pétion and François Duvalier of Haiti, Rafael Carrera of Guatemala, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, and Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Others made unsuccessful attempts to have themselves named president for life, such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire in 1972.<ref>Crawford Young and Thomas Turner, The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State, p. 211</ref>
Some long-serving autocratic presidents are mistakenly described as presidents for life. They were never officially granted life terms and, in fact, stood periodically for reelection. However, in most cases, these were sham elections which guaranteed them re-election.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
Further reading
External links
- The List: Presidents for Life Template:Webarchive // Foreign Policy, November 5, 2007