President of Iceland

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

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 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.

Presidents of Iceland

The president is elected every four years. Elections in brackets indicate that the president was elected unopposed: no opposing candidate contested the election.

Since 1944, when the office was created, only five people have had the position of president of Iceland. These are the following:

#	Portrait	Name	Elected	Took office	Left office
1		Sveinn Björnsson	—	17 June 1944	25 January 1952
		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	1952 (1956) (1960) (1964)	1 August 1952	1 August 1968
		First President elected by popular vote.
3		Kristján Eldjárn	1968 (1972) (1976)	1 August 1968	1 August 1980
		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	1980 (1984) 1988 (1992)	1 August 1980	1 August 1996
		Was the world's first elected female president and overwhelmingly won a contested election in 1988.
5		Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson	1996 (2000) 2004 (2008)	1 August 1996	Incumbent
		First president to use the authorisation to veto law from parliament, on three occasions.

Latest election

Main article: Icelandic presidential election, 2008

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.

Ólafur announced on 3 January 2012 that he would not be seeking a fifth term as president in the 2012 presidential election.

See also

• List of Icelandic rulers

External links

• Official website