List of Presidents of Brazil

This is a list of Presidents of Brazil. For a complete list of Brazilian heads of state, see also List of monarchs of Brazil.

In 1889 the Empire of Brazil was abolished and replaced with a Republic in a coup d'état led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, who deposed the Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II, proclaimed Brazil a Republic and formed a Provisional Government. The 15 November 1889 military coup actually began as an attempt to overthrow the Empire's Prime Minister, the 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 to the abolition of the Monarchy. With the Proclamation of the Republic, the Empire's 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, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca ruled by decree, discharging both the functions of Head of State and of Head of Government. The former Provinces of the Empire were reorganized as States, and the newly proclaimed Republic was declared a Federation, formed by the perpetual union of those States.

In 1890, elections for a Constituent Congress were summoned and held, but the decree of the Provisional Government that 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 February 1891, a Constitution was adopted, based on the federal republic of the United States of America. The country itself was named the Republic of 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 ballot, but, for the first presidential term, the president and vice-president would be chosen 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, Congress elected the then Head of the Provisional Government, Deodoro da Fonseca, as the first president of the Republic. Marshal Floriano Peixoto, was elected by Congress to be the first Vice-President. The inauguration of the first President and of the first Vice-President was held on 26 February 1891, only two days after the promulgation of the Constitution. Deodoro resigned the presidency ten months later after a coup d'état in which he dissolved Congress was reversed. Then, Floriano Peixoto, Deodoro's vice-president, was inaugurated as President. In 1894, Peixoto was succeeded by Prudente de Morais, the first president of Brazil to be elected by direct popular ballot. De 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 hold the office of President.

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