Past Presidents of Egypt: A Historical Overview

The office of the President of Egypt was established in 1953. The president is the head of state of Egypt and the Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Six presidents have held the office since the abolition of the monarchy in 1953, following short transitional periods. The first president of Egypt was Mohamed Naguib, who, along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew King Farouk and marked the end of British colonial rule.

Here's a look at the past presidents of Egypt:

Mohamed Naguib (1953-1954)

Mohamed Naguib was the first president of Egypt. He was one of the leaders of the Free Officers Movement. Back then they led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Though Farouk's infant son was formally declared by the revolutionaries as King Fuad II, all effective executive power was vested in Naguib and the Revolutionary Command Council. Naguib took office on 18 June 1953, which was the same day on which Egypt was declared a Republic. Naguib resigned as president in November 1954, following a severe rift with the younger military officers who had participated with him in the revolution.

Gamal Abdel Nasser (1956-1970)

After the resignation of Naguib, the office of president remained vacant until January 1956, when Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected as president via a plebiscite.

Gamal Abed Al Nasser was born in Alexandria in 1918. His family came from upper Egyptian small village called Bani Myrra, Assuot. Nasser came from a modest background as a son of a postman. He got his education in the Military Academy in 1938- 39. He participated in the war against Israel in 1948 as a major. In 1949 he joined the Free Officers, who plotted against the non-constitutional British all- pervasive presence, the landowning elite and the weak and morally corrupt king. After a long fight over power with president Naguib he ousted him in the second attempt, on November 14, allegedly for having known of the Muslim Brotherhood's attempt on Nasser's life in the month before.

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Soon after taking power Nasser negotiated an agreement with the British, ending their 72-years presence in Egypt. After being officially elected as a president in 1956, he also promulgated a new constitution, that gave the presidency more power. Nasser's political system was called Arab socialism. With this program he confiscated 243,000 hectares (2,430 km) farm land from a small group of rich landowners. Later on in his presidency he nationalized banks and industries.

In 1956 USA and Britain withdrew a promised support for the construction of a new Aswan Dam and Nasser responded with nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, as he wanted to finance the construction of the dam with the income from tolls on the traffic on the canal. The nationalization of the Suez Canal was met by an Israeli invasion of the Sinai peninsula and an Anglo-French invasion of the Canal Zone. But the invading forces were put under pressure from the UN, and had to withdraw. Egypt kept the full ownership of the Suez Canal and managed also to get Soviet support for the construction of the dam, which was completed 14 years later.

Following this, Nasser rose to stardom in the Arab world. In 1958 Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic, with Nasser as the head. This was at this time considered as the first step towards Arab unity. When it broke up in 1961, after a coup in Syria, Nasser kept the name United Arab Republic even if it was only Egypt left. Nasser's ideas were laid down in his book of 1959 "The Philosophy of the Revolution".

He precipitated the third war with Israel, when he in 1967 both expelled United Nations peace keeping forces from the Gaza Strip and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba for traffic on Israel's port Eilat. But when Israel attacked Egypt on June 5, it was so strongly the first day that Egypt was in reality beaten already. Still the fighting's continued for five more days. The only effective action of the Egyptians was to close the Suez Canal for all ships. The humiliation of Egypt was so deep that Nasser offered to resign, but the people demonstrated in such numbers in his favor, that he continued, and also took the position as prime minister.

From this time on Nasser's government became increasingly dependent on military and economic aid from the Soviet Union.

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Anwar Sadat (1970-1981)

Nasser was succeeded by his vice president, Anwar Sadat, who was elected by plebiscite in October 1970.

President of Egypt from 1970 to 1981. Sadat's background was military education. He was arrested twice during the World War 2 for cooperating with the Germans and put to trial for plans to assassinate a politician in 1946, but was acquitted. He was active in the dissident officer's actions of freeing Egypt from British control, together with Gamal Abed Al-Nasser. Sadat was on Nasser's side with the coup in 1952 and later the deposing of Neguib. Sadat was vice-president in two periods, 1964-66 and 1969-1970. With Nasser's death in 1970, Sadat was elected new president. To have been one of Nasser's closest associates, Sadat set a new course surprisingly independent from Nasser.

In 1973 Sadat was one of the instigators of the Yom Kippur war against Israel, but this only gave part of the victory he had hoped for (which was regaining control over the Suez Canal, a very important aim for him). The Yom Kippur war regarded as a victory for Sadat, especially compared to the falling star of Nasser in his last years at power. Sadat's rising star on the Arab sky, dropped to the ground in 1977, when he surprised the world by visiting Israel. This visit was to a large degree motivated by the economical problems after many wars with Israel.

In Israel, Sadat spoke with prime minister Menachim Begin, and gave a speech in the national assembly of Israel, the Knesset. The result of the talks that started here, was the so-called Camp David agreement, officially signed on March 26, 1979. The treaty was in two parts: Israel should give up land taken from Egypt in exchange for peace. The other part, that should secure the establishment of a Palestinian state and no more building of settlements on the occupied territories, was never fulfilled from Israeli side. While the international society rewarded him with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 (together with Menachim Begin), the treaty with Israel isolated Egypt in the Arab world, and strong opposition was expressed from the Islamists.

In September 1981, Sadat gave the order to round up 1,600 dissidents, Islamists and Communists. He was born in Kafer Musilha, Monufya, Egypt 1928.

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Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011)

Egyptian president and military leader since 1981. Mubarak was born in a higher middle class family and his education was military, from both Egypt (National Military Academy and Air Force Academy) and Soviet Union (Frunze General Staff Academy). He joined the air force in 1950, and became air force chief of staff in 1969, and commander in chief in 1972. In 1975 he was appointed vice president. Mubarak was elected new president October 13, 1981, one week after Sadat had been assassinated.

Mubarak declared on his inauguration that he would follow up the political line of Sadat, which had been one of reconciliation with the West and peace with Israel inside internationally recognized borders. Mubarak's program since 1981 has been one of economic reforms, more political freedom, like letting the Muslim Brotherhood into the parliament and he gave more freedom for the press. Internationally, he has focused on neutrality between the great powers and put his efforts into improving relations with other Arab states.

In October 1987 Mubarak was re-elected with 97,1% of the votes in an election without opposing candidates. The greatest challenge for Mubarak have been the militant Islamists, which not only represent an ideology that has resulted in the deaths of dozens of foreign tourists, but which is also motivated by the difficult economical conditions that most Egyptians face.

Mubarak supported the UN sanctions against Iraq, after their occupation of Kuwait in 1990, and Egypt participated in the Gulf War with 38,500 troops, and has been part of the post-war efforts to stabilize the Gulf region. Mubarak's government advised the Palestinians during the talks in Norway in 1993, leading to the Oslo Agreement of the same year.

In the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Mubarak, who held office from 14 October 1981 until 11 February 2011, was forced to resign following mass nationwide protests demanding his removal from office.

Mohamed Morsi (2012-2013)

After the Revolution of 2010 a new elected president of Egypt became a member of Muslim brotherhood Mohammed Morsi. Morsi took office on 30 June 2012, after being elected by the presidential election held on 23–24 May and 16–17 June 2012. He was deposed by the Egyptian Armed Forces in a coup d'état on 3 July 2013, following massive protests calling for his resignation.

Adly Mansour (Interim, 2013-2014)

He was succeeded by Mansour, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, as Acting President.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (2014-Present)

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who served as Defense Minister under Morsi's presidency and retained his post after Morsi's removal from office, permanently retired from the Egyptian Armed Forces in 2014 and then went on to win the 2014 presidential election, being sworn in as president on 8 June 2014. He was later re-elected to a second term in 2018 after winning the 2018 presidential election. In April 2019, Egypt's parliament extended presidential terms from four to six years.

After being accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 25, the Egyptian President Sisi, President Droupadi Murmu will be hosting a State Banquet in his honor the same evening. Sisi will be attending meetings and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on topics like bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest.

Table of Presidents of Egypt

Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Term of office	Political party	Took office	Left office	Time in office
Mohamed Naguib (1901–1984)	—	18 June 1953 – 14 November 1954 (resigned)	Military / Liberation Rally — Revolutionary Command Council	18 June 1953	14 November 1954	1 year, 149 days
Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970)	1956	23 June 1956 – 28 September 1970 (died)	National Union (until 1962), Arab Socialist Union	23 June 1956	28 September 1970	14 years, 97 days
Anwar Sadat (1918–1981)	1970, 1976	28 September 1970 – 6 October 1981 (assassinated)	Arab Socialist Union (until 1978), National Democratic Party	28 September 1970	6 October 1981	11 years, 8 days
Hosni Mubarak (1928–2020)	1981, 1987, 1993, 1999, 2005	14 October 1981 – 11 February 2011 (resigned)	National Democratic Party	14 October 1981	11 February 2011	29 years, 120 days
Mohamed Morsi (1951–2019)	2012	30 June 2012 – 3 July 2013 (deposed)	Freedom and Justice Party	30 June 2012	3 July 2013	1 year, 3 days
Adly Mansour (born 1945)	Interim	4 July 2013 – 8 June 2014	Independent	4 July 2013	8 June 2014	339 days
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (born 1954)	2014, 2018	8 June 2014 – Incumbent	Independent	8 June 2014	Incumbent	8 years, 230 days (as of February 23, 2023)

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