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President for life

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Presidency with no term limit

Mansu Hill Grand Monument inPyongyang, depicting "eternal leaders" of North Korea, PresidentKim Il Sung and General SecretaryKim Jong Il

President for life is atitle 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.^[1]

Overview

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A president for life may be regarded as ade factoautocrat.^[2]^[3]

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, includingJosé Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia ofParaguay,Alexandre Pétion andFrançois Duvalier ofHaiti,Rafael Carrera ofGuatemala,Josip Broz Tito ofYugoslavia, andSaparmurat Niyazov ofTurkmenistan. Others made unsuccessful attempts to have themselves named president for life, such asMobutu Sese Seko ofZaire in 1972.^[4]

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 weresham elections which guaranteed them re-election.^[5]^[6]^[7]