President for life is a title assumed by or granted to some presidents to extend their tenure up until their death. The title sometimes confers on the holder the right to nominate or appoint a successor. The usage of the title of "president for life" rather than a traditionally autocratic title implies the subversion of liberal democracy by the titleholder (although republics need not be democratic per se). Indeed, sometimes a president for life can proceed to establish a self-proclaimed monarchy, such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe in Haiti.

Autocracy

A president for life may be regarded as a de facto autocrat. Many leaders who proclaimed themselves president for life have not in fact successfully gone on to serve a life term. Most were deposed before they died, and others achieved a lifetime presidency by being assassinated while in office. However, some have managed to rule until their natural deaths, including José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia of Paraguay, Alexandre Pétion and François Duvalier of Haiti, Rafael Carrera of Guatemala, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, and Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Others made unsuccessful attempts to have themselves named president for life, such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire in 1972. Some long-serving autocratic presidents are mistakenly described as presidents for life. They were never officially granted life terms and, in fact, stood periodically for reelection. However, in most cases, these were sham elections which guaranteed them re-election.

In popular culture

In the film Escape from L.A., the president of the United States (played by Cliff Robertson) is given a life term by a constitutional amendment in the period following an earthquake that devastates the city of Los Angeles. At the end of the film, Snake Plissken (played by Kurt Russell) puts an end to his regime by triggering a series of EMP blasts that shut down all technology on Earth.

List of leaders who became president for life

Note: The first date listed in each entry is the date of proclamation of the status as President for Life.