List of Polish heads of state (1918–present)

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Republic of Poland

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[edit] Head of State (Naczelnik Państwa, 1918–1922)

• Marshal Józef Piłsudski (14 November 1918–11 December 1922)

[edit] Presidents of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1939)

#	President	Picture	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Gabriel Narutowicz		11 December 1922	16 December 1922	Assassinated
	Maciej Rataj		16 December 1922	20 December 1922	1st time, acting
2	Stanisław Wojciechowski		20 December 1922	14 May 1926	deposed in the May Coup
	Maciej Rataj		15 May 1926	4 June 1926	2nd time, acting
	Marshal Józef Piłsudski		elected 31 May 1926		President-elect, refused to take office
3	Ignacy Mościcki		4 June 1926	30 September 1939	Exiled in Romania from 27 September 1939) after Poland's defeat. He then became the Inspector-General of the Polish Armed Forces. Previously he was the surrogate ruler of Poland during the Piłsudski dictatorship following the May Coup.

[edit] Inspectors-General of the Polish Armed Forces

De facto dictators of Poland from the coup d'état on 14 May 1926 until 1939.

• Marshal Józef Piłsudski (1926–1935)
• Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły (1935–1939)

[edit] Presidents of the Republic of Poland in Exile (1939–1990)

The Polish Government in exile was recognized by the United States and the United Kingdom until 6 July 1945.

#	President	Picture	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski		1939	1939
2	Władysław Raczkiewicz		1939	1947	Died in office
3	August Zaleski		1947	1972	Died in office, longest-serving President
4	Stanisław Ostrowski		1972	1979
5	Edward Raczyński		1979	1986
6	Kazimierz Sabbat		1986	1989	Died in office
7	Ryszard Kaczorowski		1989	1990	Resigned after the election of Lech Wałęsa

[edit] People's Republic of Poland (1944–1989)

[edit] Presidents of the Presidium of the People's Council (1944–1947)

Recognized by the United States and the United Kingdom since 6 July 1945.

• Bolesław Bierut (1 January 1944–4 February 1947)
• Franciszek Trąbalski (4 February 1947) (Senior Marshal of the Constituent Sejm) - Acting
• Władysław Kowalski (4 February - 5 February 1947) (Marshal of the Constituent Sejm) - Acting

[edit] President (1947–1952)

• Bolesław Bierut (5 February 1947–20 November 1952)

[edit] Chairman of the Council of State of Poland (1952–1989)

Until the year 1952, the President was also the chairman of the Council of State. The July Constitution abolished the office of president. Since then, the Council of State was the de iure collective head of state, but the First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party were the de facto rulers.

• Aleksander Zawadzki (20 November 1952–7 August 1964)
• Edward Ochab
• + Stanisław Kulczyński
• + Oskar Ryszard Lange
• + Bolesław Podedworny (acting) (7 August 1964–12 August 1964)
• Edward Ochab (12 August 1964–10 April 1968)
• Marian Spychalski (10 April 1968–23 December 1970)
• Józef Cyrankiewicz (23 December 1970–28 March 1972)
• Henryk Jabłoński (28 March 1972–6 November 1985)
• Wojciech Jaruzelski (6 November 1985–19 July 1989)

[edit] First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party (1943–1989)¹

• Władysław Gomułka (1st time) (23 November 1943–3 September 1948)
• Bolesław Bierut (3 September 1948–12 March 1956)
• Edward Ochab (20 March 1956–21 October 1956)
• Władysław Gomułka (2nd time) (21 October 1956–20 December 1970)
• Edward Gierek (20 December 1970–6 September 1980)
• Stanisław Kania (6 September 1980–18 October 1981)
• Wojciech Jaruzelski (18 October 1981–29 July 1989)
• Mieczysław Rakowski (29 July 1989–27 January 1990)

¹First Secretary of Polish Workers Party until 21 December, 1948; PUWP thereafter.

[edit] Presidents of the Third Republic of Poland (since 1989)

#	President	Picture	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Wojciech Jaruzelski		19 July 1989	22 December 1990
2	Lech Wałęsa		22 December 1990	22 December 1995	First President elected by the popular vote
3	Aleksander Kwaśniewski		23 December 1995	23 December 2005	First President reelected by the popular vote
4	Lech Kaczyński		23 December 2005	Incumbent

[edit] See also

• Acting President of the Republic of Poland
• Polish presidential election, 1990
• Polish presidential election, 1995
• Polish presidential election, 2000
• Polish presidential election, 2005
• List of Polish monarchs