List of Rythenean Presidents
The President of the Rythene Third Republic is the head of state of Rythene, who is directly elected to a four year term by the citizens of the nation. The officeholder can serve a maximum two terms, and acts as the leader of the federal branch of government.
The office was established in 1793, and 34 people have served as president since. Richard Matthews was the first, who assumed the position following the Rythenean Revolution as head of the Delegated Assembly, and the current president is Edward Hådirssen (as of 1 September 2014). There are currently five living former presidents, of which the most recent former president to die was Grant Campbell on 13 July 2015.
The presidency of Thomas Wright was the shortest in Rythenean history, who was in office for 9 months and 16 days. James Morris served the longest, nine years, until his exile following the re-establishment of the Rythenean monarchy. This was later seen as a reason to never serve more than eight years, and thus two term limits of four years were enacted.
Three presidents have died in office (Thomas Wright, Harold Marshall, Travis Ward), and two were removed from office (James Morris, Grant Campbell). Thomas Wright died of natural causes, Harold Marshall was assassinated during a speech, and Travis Ward alongside his Prime Minister Bernard Turner died in an aviation related incident. James Morris was removed from office upon the return of the monarchy, and Grant Campbell was impeached for misconduct of authority. Henry Spencer was the first prime minister to assume the presidency, establishing the precedent that in the case of the death or impeachment of the president, the prime minister becomes the fully functioning head of state and a new head of government is elected.
There were four presidents of the First Republic (1793 - 1816), twenty-four of the Second Republic (1824 - 1986), and seven from the Third Republic (1986 - present). Charles Elmer is the only president to have served for two republics.