President of the Republic of China

The President of the Republic of China (中華民國總統) is the head of state of the Republic of China, the government which administered Mainland China from 1912 to 1949 and has administered Taiwan and several outlying islands from 1945 until the present.

The President is currently selected by a first past the post direct election of the areas administered by the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan province, and Kinmen and Lienchiang counties of Fujian province) for a term of four years. Before 1991, the President was selected by the National Assembly of the Republic of China for a term of seven years.

Until the 1980s power in the Republic of China was personalized rather than institutionalized which meant that the power of the President depended largely on who occupied the office. For example, during the tenure of Yen Chia-kan, the office was largely ceremonial with real power in the hands of the Premier of the Republic of China[?], Chiang Ching-Kuo, and power shifted back to the presidency when Chiang became President.

List of Presidents

Name	Alignment	Start	End	Remark
Provisional Constitution
Sun Yat-Sen	KMT	1912	1913	Provisional gov't
Yuan Shikai		1913	1915	Declared himself Emperor in 1915, d. 1916
Warlord Government in Beijing¹
Li Yuan-Hung[?]		1916	1917
Feng Kuo-Chang[?]		1917	1918
Hsu Shih-Chang		1918	1922
Li Yuan-Hung[?]		1922	1923
Tsao Kun[?]		1923	1924
Tuan Chi-Jui[?]		1924	1926
Chang Tso-Lin[?]		1926	1928
Rival Government in Guangzhou
Sun Yat-Sen	KMT	1921	1925
Chairman of National Government (Chinese Civil War)²
Chiang Kai-Shek	KMT	1928	1932
Lin Sen	KMT	1932	1943
Chiang Kai-Shek	KMT	1943	1947
Constitution of 1947
Chiang Kai-Shek³	KMT	1947	1975
Yen Chia-kan	KMT	1975	1978
Chiang Ching-kuo	KMT	1978	1988
Lee Teng-hui	KMT	1988	2000	First Popular Election (1996)
Chen Shui-bian	DPP	2000	Present
(1) Warlord government and Yuan Shikai government after the 1913 Second revolution[?] are regarded as illegitimate by the ROC.
(2) Chiang Kai-shek assumed role of "Commander-in-chief" from 1925-1928.
(3) Li Tsung-jen assumed role of "Acting President" following Chiang Kai-shek's resignation in Jan. 1949, but Chiang reassumed presidency after the retreat to Taiwan in Dec. 1949.

External links

• Office of the President of the ROC (http://www.president.gov.tw/1_roc_intro/index_e)