President of Iceland

President of Iceland Forseti Íslands
Presidential Coat of Arms
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Since August 1, 1996
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Sveinn Björnsson
Formation	June 17, 1944
Website	english.forseti.is (English) www.forseti.is (Icelandic)

Iceland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Iceland

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The President of Iceland (Icelandic: Forseti Íslands) is Iceland's elected head of state. The president is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage and has limited powers. The constitution does not limit the number of terms the president is allowed to serve. The president is not the head of government; the prime minister is the head of government. There have been five presidents since Iceland became independent from Denmark in 1944. The incumbent is Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who is now in his fourth term as president, first elected in 1996, and returned unopposed in 2008.

The presidential residence is situated in Bessastaðir in Álftanes, near the capital city Reykjavík. The nation's constitution specifies that when the president cannot perform the duties of the office, such as when he or she is abroad or under anesthesia, the prime minister, the president of the parliament, and the president of the supreme court collectively assume the power of the office. The three vote on any presidential decisions that must be made during that time. The president is also the designated grand master of the Order of the Falcon.

List of presidents

Term: ¹ appointed · ² uncontested · ³ died in office

Nº	President		Took office	Left office	Duration	Term	Prime ministers
1		Sveinn Björnsson (1881–1952)	17 June 1944	25 January 1952	7 years, 7 months, 8 days (2,778 days)	1 (1944)1	Björn Þórðarson Ólafur Thors Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson Ólafur Thors Steingrímur Steinþórsson
						2 (1945)2
						3 (1949)2, 3
	Regent of Iceland 1941–1944, later became the first president of Iceland. In 1950 considered forming a government that did not rely on parliamentary support after leaders of the parliamentary parties had reached an impasse. The only president to die in office; this led to a vacancy, the powers of the office being constitutionally vested in the prime minister, the president of parliament and the president of the supreme court jointly.
2		Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (1894–1972)	1 August 1952	1 August 1968	16 years (5,844 days)	4 (1952)	Steingrímur Steinþórsson Ólafur Thors Hermann Jónasson Emil Jónsson Ólafur Thors Bjarni Benediktsson Ólafur Thors Bjarni Benediktsson
						5 (1956)2
						6 (1960)2
						7 (1964)2
	First president elected by popular vote.
3		Kristján Eldjárn (1916–1982)	1 August 1968	1 August 1980	12 years (4,383 days)	8 (1968)	Bjarni Benediktsson Jóhann Hafstein Ólafur Jóhannesson Geir Hallgrímsson Ólafur Jóhannesson Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal Gunnar Thoroddsen
						9 (1972)2
						10 (1976)2
	At one point considered forming a government that did not rely on parliamentary support after leaders of the parliamentary parties had reached an impasse.
4		Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1930–)	1 August 1980	1 August 1996	16 years (5,844 days)	11 (1980)	Gunnar Thoroddsen Steingrímur Hermannsson Þorsteinn Pálsson Steingrímur Hermannsson Davíð Oddsson
						12 (1984)2
						13 (1988)
						14 (1992)2
	Was the world's first elected female president and overwhelmingly won a contested election in 1988.
5		Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (1943–)	1 August 1996	Incumbent	&1000000000000001500000015 years, &10000000000000304000000304 days (5782 days)	15 (1996)	Davíð Oddsson Halldór Ásgrímsson Geir Haarde Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
						16 (2000)2
						17 (2004)
						18 (2008)2
	First president to use the constitutional authorisation to deny signing a law from the parliament, thus sending the law to a national referendum, on three occasions.

Latest election

In his 2008 New Year's speech, president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson announced his desire to stand for a fourth term. No challenger to the incumbent president filed their nomination papers by the deadline on 25 May 2008, and consequently Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson won his fourth term uncontested.

See also

• List of Icelandic rulers

References

External links

• Official website

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v t e Presidents of Iceland Sveinn Björnsson • Ásgeir Ásgeirsson • Kristján Eldjárn • Vigdís Finnbogadóttir • Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson