History Main / PresidentForLife

** Downplayed by UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin. While there ''are'' actual elections in Russia and not mere rubber stamp shows like those organized by the Kims or Saddam Hussein, they are still subject to considerable election interference from the Kremlin. The constitution of the Russian Federation originally specified that a person could only serve two ''consecutive'' 4-year terms as President, so they had to do a switcheroo with Dimitry Medvedev as a PuppetKing from 2008-2012. Afterwards, the constitution was amended to remove the term limits and increase the President's term to 6 years instead of 4. In 2000, he barely skated through with 53% of the votes. By 2024, it had risen to 87%.

** Downplayed by UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin. While there ''are'' actual elections in Russia and not mere rubber stamp shows like those organized by the Kims or Saddam Hussein, they are still subject to considerable election interference from the Kremlin. The constitution of the Russian Federation originally specified that a person could only serve two ''consecutive'' 4-year terms as President, so they had to do a switcheroo with Dimitry Medvedev as a PuppetKing from 2008-2012. Afterwards, the constitution was amended to remove the term limits and increase the President's term to 6 years instead of 4. In 2000, he barely skated through with 53% of the votes. By 2018, it had risen to 77%.

* In ''ComicBook/Flashpoint1999'', JFK was elected to a third term and is still in power by the time of the story.

* Quite popular amongst real-life dictators and even some legally elected presidents, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_for_life has its own article]] at Website/ThatOtherWiki. Some even lived up to the term.

** Abdelaziz Bouteflika of UsefulNotes/{{Algeria}}. Largely incapacitated after a stroke in 2013, a successor had to be found in 2019. He died in 2021.

** UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, president of UsefulNotes/{{The New|Russia}} UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} since 1999 with a brief 2008-2012 interim when Dmitri Medvedev was president, solely because Russia's constitution didn't allow more than two mandates. Of course, Medvedev's Prime Minister was... Putin himself, who then became president again, with enough constitutional changes to run again as much as he wants.

** The UrExample is probably that of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, granted the title of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictator_perpetuo dictator perpetuo]]'' or dictator in perpetuity, abandoning the usual time restrictions on Roman dictatorships historically observed. This of course being [[OnlyServesForLife shortly before his infamous assassination]], and possibly being subverted by the lack of implication Caesar would never resign the post. Whether Caesar actually had any intention of ever stepping down is uncertain, but in theory "dictator in perpetuity" only meant he wasn't ''required'' to step down after a specified term (traditionally the Roman dictatorship was limited to 6 months, and dictators often ''did'' [[{{Cincinnatus}} voluntarily step down early]] if it took less than 6 months to solve whichever emergency led to their appointment). The only previous dictator to not be time-limited was Sulla, who did indeed abuse his power to rule as a tyrant but also peacefully stepped down after less than 2 years.
*** His great-nephew and heir UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} was offered this title but refused it, knowing how dangerous this was. He preferred the titles ''imperator'', originally a military honorific roughly meaning "commander" but which evolved into a royal title (translating, of course, to "emperor") over time, and ''princeps'' ([[JustTheFirstCitizen first citizen]]), which likewise evolved centuries later into the royal title "prince". For the first 311 years of the Roman Empire, the emperors followed Augustus' example by insisting that they were neither royal nor dictators and that Rome was still a republic in which power ultimately flowed from the citizens and the Senate. Not until Diocletian in 284 AD was the pretense discarded.

** UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, president of UsefulNotes/{{The New|Russia}} UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} since 1999 with a brief 2008-2012 interim when Dmitri Medvedev was president, solely because Russia's constitution doesn't allow more than two mandates. Of course, Medvedev's Prime Minister was... Putin himself, who then became president again, with enough constitutional changes to run again as much as he wants.

** Famously, Ugandan dictator UsefulNotes/IdiAmin proclaimed himself this in many of his {{Narm}}tastic [[LargeHam rants]].
** François Duvalier of Haiti. Died in office.
** Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Died in office.
** Hastings Banda of Malawi. Stripped of title in 1993, defeated in an election in 1994.
** Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. Deposed while away from office in 1966.
** Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia. Died in office in 1980.
** José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia of Paraguay. Died in office in 1840.
** Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia. Deposed in 1987, died under house arrest in 2000.
** Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh. [[OnlyServesForLife Assassinated in 1975, after only seven months in power]], along with most of his family.
** Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic. Declared President for Life in 1972, then went all the way and was crowned Emperor of the Central African Empire in 1976. Deposed in 1979.
** Porfirio Díaz of Mexico. Deposed in 1911.
** Subverted by Julius Nyerere of Tanzania who, when pressed to accept the title by his sycophants, turned it down (even though he was genuinely popular), remarking that there was [[OnlyServesForLife only one way]] of getting rid of a President for Life.

* In his "African President" sketch from his 2009 show ''J'ai fait l'con'', French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala spoofed the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7afrique Françafrique]] system by playing a fictional president for life of Cameroon who gave suitcases of cash to [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPoliticalSystem French political parties]] and [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfFrance presidents]] such as UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle, Georges Pompidou, François Mitterrand...

** Samoa, a honest-to-god democracy, had not one but ''two'' ([[AuthorityInNameOnly Ceremonial]]) Presidents for life serving simultaneously: Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole ([[OnlyServesForLife who died in 1963, one year into his term]]) and Malietoa Tanumafili II (who held office from 1962 to 2007). Their case was a special exception for the usual rule of Parliament electing one single President for a five-year term, which makes the country unambiguously a republic. However, Tanumafili II's long term, combined with the fact that only Chiefs can hold elected office in Samoa and the President being called an [[InsistentTerminology O le Ao]] [[GratuitousForeignLanguage o le Malo]] (that's Samoan for Chief of the Government), led to Samoa being frequently referred to as a Constitutional Monarchy instead of the Parliamentary Republic it actually is.
** averted with Kim Il-sung of North Korea, who was declared Eternal President of the Republic ''after'' he'd died. However, he was NOT President For Life while he was alive; his term was regularly renewed via show elections. Creator/ChristopherHitchens commented that this made North Korea the world's only [[TheNecrocracy necrocracy]].
** Napoleon made himself First Consul for life on the way to becoming Emperor.

** Subverted with Kim Il-sung of North Korea, who was declared Eternal President of the Republic ''after'' he'd died. However, he was NOT President For Life while he was alive; his term was regularly renewed via show elections. Creator/ChristopherHitchens commented that this made North Korea the world's only [[TheNecrocracy necrocracy]].

** The UrExample is probably that of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, granted the title of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictator_perpetuo dictator perpetuo]]'' or dictator in perpetuity, abandoning the usual time restrictions on Roman dictatorships historically observed. This of course being [[OnlyServesForLife shortly before his infamous assassination]], and possibly being subverted by the lack of implication Caesar would never resign the post. Whether Caesar actually had any intention of ever stepping down is uncertain, but in theory "dictator in perpetuity" only meant he wasn't ''required'' to step down after a specified term (traditionally the Roman dictatorship was limited to 6 months, and dictators often ''did'' [[Cincinnatus voluntarily step down early]] if it took less than 6 months to solve whichever emergency led to their appointment). The only previous dictator to not be time-limited was Sulla, who did indeed abuse his power to rule as a tyrant but also peacefully stepped down after less than 2 years.