List of Presidents of Liberia

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The following is a list of Presidents of the Republic of Liberia, made up of the 24 heads of state in the history of Liberia. This list includes only presidents sworn in after the declaration of independence of Liberia on July 26, 1847. From 1980 to 2006, the presidency was interrupted three times due to a coup d'etat, the Liberian Civil War, and the Second Liberian Civil War. The heads of state of Liberia during these periods are shown on a separate list below the list of presidents. Samuel Doe served as both Head of People's Redemption Council and President of Liberia; he is therefore placed on both lists in his respective roles. Furthermore, both Joseph Jenkins Roberts and James Spriggs-Payne served non-consecutive terms and are each counted twice in the list. Because of this, the list below contains 24 presidencies, but only 22 people.

The colors indicate the political party affiliation of each President.

1 Presidents of Liberia
2 Interim and Non-Presidential Heads of State
3 Notes
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Presidents of Liberia

#	President	Took office	Left office	Party	Vice President(s)
1	Joseph Jenkins Roberts	January 3, 1848	January 7, 1856	none (Republican policies)	Stephen Allen Benson
2	Stephen Allen Benson	January 7, 1856	January 4, 1864	none (Republican policies)	Beverley Yates
3	Daniel Bashiel Warner	January 4, 1864	January 6, 1868	Republican Party	James M. Priest
4	James Spriggs-Payne	January 6, 1868	January 3, 1870	Republican Party	Vacant
5	Edward James Roye	January 3, 1870	October 26, 1871^[A]	True Whig Party	James Skivring Smith
6	James Skivring Smith^[1]	November 4, 1871	January 1, 1872	True Whig Party	Anthony W. Gardiner
7	Joseph Jenkins Roberts(2nd time)	March 1, 1872	January 3, 1876	Republican Party	Anthony W. Gardiner
8	James Spriggs-Payne(2nd time)	January 3, 1876	January 7, 1878	Republican Party	Vacant
9	Anthony W. Gardiner	January 7, 1878	January 20, 1883^[R]	True Whig Party	Alfred Francis Russell
10	Alfred F. Russell	January 20, 1883	January 7, 1884	True Whig Party	John Tyler
11	Hilary R. W. Johnson	January 7, 1884	January 4, 1892	True Whig Party	Vacant
12	Joseph James Cheeseman	January 4, 1892	November 12, 1896^[D]	True Whig Party	William D. Coleman
13	William D. Coleman	November 12, 1896	December 11, 1900^[R]	True Whig Party	J. J. Ross
14	Garretson W. Gibson	December 11, 1900	January 4, 1904	True Whig Party	Vacant
15	Arthur Barclay	January 4, 1904	January 1, 1912	True Whig Party	J. J. Dossen
16	Daniel E. Howard	January 1, 1912	January 5, 1920	True Whig Party	John Breckinridge
17	Charles D.B. King	January 5, 1920	December 3, 1930^[R]	True Whig Party	Henry Too Wesley
18	Edwin Barclay	December 3, 1930	January 3, 1944	True Whig Party	Vacant
19	William V.S. Tubman	January 3, 1944	July 23, 1971^[D]	True Whig Party	Clarence Simpson William Richard Tolbert, Jr.
20	William R. Tolbert, Jr.	July 23, 1971	April 12, 1980^[A]	True Whig Party	James Edward Greene Bennie Dee Warner
21	Samuel K. Doe^[2]	January 6, 1986	September 9, 1990^[A]	National Democratic Party of Liberia	Henry Fumba Moniba
22	Charles G. Taylor	August 27, 1997	August 11, 2003^[R]	National Patriotic Party	Enoch Dogolea Moses Blah
23	Moses Blah	August 11, 2003	October 14, 2003^[R]	National Patriotic Party	Vacant
24	Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf	January 16, 2006	present	Unity Party	Joseph Nyumah Boakai

Left office early:

^[A] Assassinated in a coup d'etat.

^[D] Died in office of natural causes.

^[R] Resigned.

[edit] Interim and Non-Presidential Heads of State

President	Position	Took office	Left office	Party
Samuel K. Doe	Head of People's Redemption Council	April 12, 1980	January 6, 1986	National Democratic Party of Liberia
Dr. Amos Sawyer	President of the Interim Government of National Unity	November 22, 1990	March 7, 1994	Liberian People's Party
David D. Kpormakpor	Chairman of the Council of State	March 7, 1994	September 1, 1995	None
Wilton G. S. Sankawulo	Chairman of the Council of State	September 1, 1995	September 3, 1996	None
Ruth Perry	Chairwoman of the Council of State	September 3, 1996	August 27, 1997	None
Gyude Bryant	Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia	October 14, 2003	January 16, 2006	Liberian Action Party

[edit] Notes

^ There has been some confusion as to whether Smith actually served as President of Liberia following the removal of Edward James Roye from office. However, evidence does show that Smith did in fact serve as president from the time of Roye's departure until the inauguration of Joseph Jenkins Roberts.[1]
^ Despite the fact that Doe assumed power immediately after the execution of William R. Tolbert, Jr. on April 12, 1980, he was not in fact sworn in as president until January 6, 1986.[2]