List of heads of state of Costa Rica

The following is the list of all the heads of state of Costa Rica. The current Constitution establishes that the President of Costa Rica is both head of state and head of government, and the current officeholder is Laura Fernández Delgado of the PPSO.

First independent governments (1821–1824)

On October 11, 1821, the province of Costa Rica proclaimed its absolute independence from Spain. On the 29th of that month, the city of Cartago, head of the Partido de Costa Rican, also signed an act declaring the absolute independence of the Spanish Government.

During this period the main divisions occurred between two sides; the imperialist who sought to annex Costa Rica to the First Mexican Empire and the Republican who sought full independence from Costa Rica. The monarchicals or monarchists also advocated the recognition of Agustín de Iturbide as emperor.

OfficeTermFactionJuan Manuel de CañasPolitical chiefOctober 11, 1821 – November 12, 1821EspañolistaNicolás Carrillo y AguirrePresident of the Town's Legates Junta November 12, 1821 – December 1, 1821ImperialistPedro José de Alvarado y BaezaPresident of the Provisional Government Junta December 1821– January 1822ImperialistRafael Barroeta y CastillaPresident of the Electors Board January 6–13, 1822; president of the Superior Government Junta, January 6 – April 13, 1822ImperialistSantiago de Bonilla y Laya-Bolívar President of the Superior Government Junta 13 April – June 15, 1822LiberalJosé María de PeraltaPresident of the Superior Government JuntaJune 15 – October 17, 1822RepublicanJosé Rafael GallegosPresident of the Superior Government Junta 17 octubre de 1822– January 1, 1823ImperialistJosé Santos LombardoPresident of the Superior Government Junta January 1 – March 20, 1823ImperialistRafael Francisco OsejoPresident of the Diputación of Costa Rica March 20–29, 1823RepublicanJoaquín de OreamunoGeneral Commander of Arms, de facto March 29 – April 5, 1823ImperialistGregorio José RamírezGeneral Commander of Arms, de facto April 5 – 16, 1823RepublicanJosé María de PeraltaPresident of the Constituent Provincial Congress April 16 – May 10, 1823RepublicanManuel Alvarado e HidalgoPresident of the Superior Government Junta 1823–1824RepublicanEusebio Rodríguez y Castro President of the Superior Government Junta January 8 – February 12, 1824RepublicanManuel Alvarado e Hidalgo President of the Superior Government Junta February 12 – September 8, 1824Republican

Emperor (1822–1823)

EmperorTermNotes Agustín de Iturbide May 19, 1822– March 19, 1823 During the period of permanence of Costa Rica in the First Mexican Empire, Emperor Agustín de Iturbide was the monarch of the country as of the rest of the Empire. However, imperial sovereignty was not universally recognized. The disputes between imperialists loyal to Iturbide and Republicans seeking full independence led to the first Costa Rican civil war.

President of the Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1839)

Between 1824 and 1838 Costa Rica was a member of the Federal Republic of Central America, and the president was the federal president of the country, although the political influence of the federal government was minimal.

PresidentTermProfessionPartyJosé Matías Delgado1823Catholic PriestLiberal PartyFirst Triumvirate: Pedro Molina Mazariegos Manuel José Arce Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz (1823) Liberal PartySecond Triumvirate: Manuel José Arce José Cecilio del Valle Tomás Antonio O'Horán y Argüello 1823–1825 Liberal Party Manuel José Arce29 April 1825-13 April 1829MilitaryLiberal PartyMariano Beltranena y Llano 13 April 1829-14 June 1829 AristocratConservative PartyJosé Francisco Barrundia26 June 1829-16 June 1830JournalistLiberal PartyFrancisco Morazán16 September 1830-16 September 1834MilitaryLiberal PartyJosé Cecilio del Valle†MilitaryConservative PartyJosé Gregorio Salazar16 September 1834-14 February 1835PoliticianLiberal PartyFrancisco MorazánFebruary 14, 1835 – February 1, 1839 MilitaryLiberal Party

Heads of State of Costa Rica (1824–1847) Between 1824 and 1847 and according to the Constitutions of the United Provinces of Central America (1824), of Costa Rica from 1825 and 1844, the chief of the executive branch bore the title of supreme chief or first chief.

Liberals almost completely dominated Costa Rican politics during this period, to the point that many historians call this the "Liberal State". In Costa Rica there was no war between liberals and conservatives as was common in the rest of Latin America and even coup d'etats and de facto governments were mostly between liberal factions. The only conservative president of this period was José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado who did not end his term. Another conservative, Nicolás Ulloa Soto, never took office.Msc. Marvin Carvajal Barrantes. La independencia de Costa Rica (2011) extraído en 2013

Heads of the Free State of Costa RicaProvinceTerm()ProfessionFactionVice HeadJuan Mora FernándezSan José 1824–1833Teacher and traderLiberalMariano Montealegre Bustamante (1824–1825) José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado (1825–1829)José Rafael de Gallegos y AlvaradoCartago1833–1835 BusinessmanConservativeManuel Fernández ChacónManuel Fernández ChacónSan José LandownerLiberalVacantNicolás Ulloa SotoHerediaBusinessmanConservativeManuel Fernández ChacónBraulio Carrillo ColinaCartago 1835–1837Lawyer LiberalJoaquín Mora FernándezSan JoséMarch–April 1837 Lawyer LiberalManuel Aguilar ChacónSan José 1837–1838 LawyerLiberalJuan Mora FernándezBraulio Carrillo ColinaCartago November 14, 1838 – April 8, 1842 LawyerLiberalMiguel Carranza Fernández (1838–1841) Manuel Antonio Bonilla Nava (1841–182)Francisco MorazánBorn in HondurasApril 8 – September 11, 1842 MilitaryLiberalJuan Mora FernándezAntonio Pinto SoaresBorn in Portugal September 11–27, 1842 MilitaryLiberalVacantJosé María Alfaro ZamoraAlajuela 27 September 1842-29 November 1844TraderLiberalFrancisco María Oreamuno Bonilla (1843–1844)Francisco María Oreamuno BonillaCartago November 29, 1844 – June 7, 1846 LawyerLiberalJosé María Castro Madriz (1845–1847)José María Alfaro ZamoraAlajuela June 7, 1846 – May 1, 1847 TraderLiberal

President of the State of Costa Rica (1847–1848)

President of the State of Costa RicaProvinceTermProfessionFactionVice President 1José María Alfaro ZamoraAlajuela May 1, 1847 – May 6, 1847 TraderLiberalJosé María Castro Madriz 2José María Castro MadrizSan JoséMay 8, 1847 – August 31, 1848 LawyerLiberalJosé María Alfaro Zamora (1847)Juan Rafael Mora Porras (1847–1848)

President of the Republic of Costa Rica (1848–1948)

Current title of the head of state and government since the Constitution of 1847. The historiography tends to divide this historical period in two, the previous one to the civil war of 1948 and the subsequent one to it. During the first period from 1847 to 1948, the liberals almost completely dominated Costa Rican politics. The liberal hegemony only broke briefly with the government of Vicente Herrera Zeledón (who however had been elected by the liberals) who ruled de facto for just over a year between 1876 and 1877. Even the dictator Federico Tinoco whose dictatorship lasted two years was also liberal. In addition, Costa Rican politics was then (and continues to be to some extent) eminently personalist, so political parties such as Civil, National, Peliquista and Republican revolved mostly around leaders and political figures and not ideologies although, in general terms, they usually be diffusely associated with liberalism.

Costa Rican liberalism was also closely linked to the coffee-growing oligarchy and an important sector of the aristocracy. Attempts to create party alternatives not only formally ideological but more to the left were the Reform Party of Father Jorge Volio Jiménez, strongly influenced by the Catholic social teaching and Christian socialism and Manuel Mora Valverde's Workers and Peasants Block (which precisely it would break with the Reform Party after Volio's alliance with the liberal Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno of the Republican Party) that would lead to the Costa Rican Communist Party. However, even after the war, an important influence of liberal thinking could be seen in the presidents emanated from opposition coalitions as well as within the Social Christian Unity Party.

The National Republican Party led several liberals to the presidency, however, it would be under the government of perhaps its most famous president Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia that the reforms known as the Social Guarantees would be given for the benefit of the poorest classes and would be one of the triggers of the war of 48.http://geografiahistoriasecundaria.blogspot.com/p/la-crisis-de-la-republica-liberal-1914.html

Presidents of the Republic of Costa RicaProvinceTermProfessionFaction/PartyVice President 1José María Castro MadrizSan José August 31, 1848 – November 15, 1849 LawyerLiberalManuel José Carazo Bonilla (1848–1849)Juan Rafael Mora Porras (1849) 1.aMiguel Mora PorrasSan José November 16–26, 1849TraderLiberalVacant 2Juan Rafael Mora PorrasSan José November 26 – December 30, 1849 – August 14, 1859 EmpresarioLiberalFrancisco María Oreamuno Bonilla† (1853–1856)Vicente Aguilar Cubero (1856–1857)Rafael García-Escalante Nava (1857–1859) 3José María Montealegre FernándezSan José 14 August 1859 – 8 May 1863MedicLiberalAbolished Alternates appointed by Congress. 4Jesús Jiménez ZamoraCartago 8 May 1863 – 8 May 1866MedicLiberal 5José María Castro MadrizSan José May 8, 1866 – November 1, 1868 LawyerLiberal 6Jesús Jiménez ZamoraCartago November 1, 1868 – April 27, 1870 MedicLiberal 7Bruno Carranza RamírezSan José April 27 – August 8, 1870 MedicLiberal 8Tomás Guardia GutiérrezGuanacaste August 8, 1870 – May 8, 1876 MilitaryLiberal 9Aniceto Esquivel SáenzCartago May 8, 1876 – July 30, 1876 LawyerLiberal 10Vicente Herrera ZeledónSan José30 July 1876 – 23 September 1877LawyerConservative 11Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez†Guanacaste September 23, 1877 – July 6, 1882 MilitaryLiberal 12Saturnino Lizano GutiérrezPuntarenas July 6 – August 10, 1882 TraderLiberal 13Próspero Fernández Oreamuno†San José August 10, 1882 – March 12, 1885 PhilosopherOlympus 14 Bernardo Soto AlfaroAlajuela March 12, 1885 – November 7, 1889 Military and lawyerOlympus 14.aCarlos Durán CartínSan José November 7, 1889 – May 8, 1890 MedicLiberal 15José Rodríguez ZeledónSan José 8 May 1890 – 8 May 1894Lawyer Constitutional Party 16Rafael Yglesias CastroSan José8 May 1894 – 8 May 1902BusinessmanCivil Party 17Ascensión Esquivel IbarraGuanacaste 8 May 1902 – 8 May 1906LawyerNational Union Party 18Cleto González VíquezHeredia 8 May 1906 – 8 May 1910Lawyer National Party 19Ricardo Jiménez OreamunoCartago 8 May 1910 – 8 May 1914LawyerRepublican Party 20Alfredo González FloresHeredia May 8, 1914 – January 27, 1917 LawyerRepublican Party 21Federico Alberto Tinoco GranadosSan José January 27, 1917 – August 20, 1919 BusinessmanPeliquista Party 22Juan Bautista Quirós SeguraSan José August 20, 1919 – September 2, 1919 EmpresarioPeliquista Party 23Francisco Aguilar BarqueroCartago 2 September 1919-8 May 1920TeacherRepublican Party 24Julio Acosta GarcíaAlajuela 8 May 1920-8 May 1924DiplomaticConstitutional Party 25Ricardo Jiménez OreamunoCartago May 8, 1924 – May 8, 1928 LawyerRepublican Party 26Cleto González VíquezHeredia 8 May 1928-8 May 1932LawyerNational Union Party 27Ricardo Jiménez OreamunoCartago May 8, 1932 – May 8, 1936 LawyerNational Republican Party 28León Cortés CastroAlajuela 8 May 1936-8 May 1940Teacher and lawyerNational Republican Party 29Rafael Ángel Calderón GuardiaSan José 8 May 1940-8 May 1944MedicNational Republican Party 30Teodoro Picado MichalskiSan José May 8, 1944 – April 19, 1948 TeacherNational Republican Party 30.aSantos León HerreraSan José April 19 – May 8, 1948 Engineer National Republican Party

Founding Junta of the Second Republic (1948–1949)