President of Uruguay

Features of the office

Requirements

Election

Powers and duties

1. The preservation of order and tranquility within and security without.
2. The command of all armed forces.
3. The promulgation of all laws, issuing special regulations necessary for its implementation.
4. The delivery, to the General Assembly of Uruguay at the opening of regular sessions, the state of the Republic address.
5. The right to veto laws he dislikes.
6. The right to propose bills or amendments to laws previously enacted.
7. The dismissal of public employees for misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance.
8. Management of diplomatic relations and, with consent of the legislature, the right to declare war.
9. The right to declare a state of emergency when needed.
10. The preparation of the state budget.
11. Negotiation of treaties with the ratification of the legislature.

Succession

Residence

Post-presidency

• Several presidents take part in important events as lecturers, both at local and international level.
• Many presidents are prolific authors, about political affairs or other topics of their interest, such as history or arts.

Honors

Territorial entities

• Flores Department.
• Rivera Department.
• Baltasar Brum, Artigas Department.
• Joaquín Suárez, Canelones Department.
• José Batlle y Ordóñez, Lavalleja Department.
• Tomás Gomensoro, Artigas Department.

Public spaces

• Several squares, parks, roads and streets throughout the country are named after former leaders.
• The only heads of state from the 19th century who have not been honoured in this way are Juan Idiarte Borda and Duncan Stewart.
• After Óscar Gestido, no deceased 20th-century heads of state have been honoured with their names on streets or other public places.
• Several national routes are named after presidents:
• * Route 1, Manuel Oribe;
• * Route 5, Fructuoso Rivera;
• * Route 6, Joaquín Suárez;
• * Route 11, José Batlle y Ordóñez ;
• * Route 14, Venancio Flores;
• * Route 19, Lorenzo Latorre.

Buildings

• Máximo Santos had his lavish residence built in the center of Montevideo, which later passed to the State. It is currently occupied by the Foreign Office. Both the building and, by extension, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are known as the Santos Palace.
• Several schools all over the country bear the names of presidents.

Trivia

• As of, no female politician has been elected to the office of President of Uruguay. However, there was one woman, Patricia Ayala, who served as interim president for just three days in June 2018.
• As of, no openly LGBTQ person has ever held office as President.
• Máximo Tajes was the youngest president when sworn in, being old. Currently, this would not longer be possible, given that the current Constitution requires a minimum age of 35 years.
• When he was inaugurated for his second term, Tabaré Vázquez was the oldest president to be sworn in, being.
• Luis Lacalle Pou was the first president to be elected alongside a female vice president, Beatriz Argimón.
• Gabriel Antonio Pereira was the last president born in the 18th century.
• Atanasio Cruz Aguirre was the first president born in the 19th century.
• José Eugenio Ellauri was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence, the Preliminary Peace Convention and the swearing in of the Constitution. In short, he was the first president born in independent Uruguay.
• Luis Batlle Berres was the last president born in the 19th century.
• Óscar Diego Gestido was the first president born in the 20th century.
• Tomás Gomensoro was the first president who died in the 20th century.
• As of, Luis Lacalle Pou was the last president born in the 20th century.
• Jorge Pacheco Areco was the last president who died in the 20th century.
• Jorge Batlle Ibáñez was the first president to die in the 21st century.
• As of, Juan Idiarte Borda has been the only president to be assassinated while in office. Further, he was the first president to die in office; and also, the last to pass away in the 19th century.
• Lorenzo Batlle y Grau has been the only president with descendants from three successive generations who have been inaugurated as heads of state: his son José Batlle y Ordóñez, his grandson Luis Batlle Berres and his great-grandson Jorge Batlle Ibáñez.
• When Luis Lacalle Pou was sworn in as president on 1 March 2020, for the first time a former president was alive to see his own son take office. Furthermore, since Luis Lacalle Pou completed his term, for the first time there are two former presidents, father and son, who are both still alive,.
• Juan María Bordaberry was the longest-living former president after leaving office ; having governed between 1972 and 1976, he died at the age of.
• Luis Batlle Berres was the first vice president to assume the presidency following the death of a president, after Tomás Berreta died in 1947. The last was Jorge Pacheco Areco after the death of Óscar Diego Gestido in 1967.
• José Serrato was the longest-living president, dying at the age of.
• Máximo Santos was the youngest president to die, at just of age.
• Over the course of 75 years, there have been a series of self-coups by presidents:
• * Juan Lindolfo Cuestas,
• * Gabriel Terra,
• * Alfredo Baldomir,
• * Juan María Bordaberry.
• Joaquín Suárez was the longest-ruling president.
• Excluding acting presidents, there were 11 military officers, 14 lawyers, 1 engineer, 1 pharmaceutical chemist, 1 physician and 1 history teacher. The remaining presidents had several backgrounds, including agriculture, cattle breeding, journalism, commerce, banking, and some served only in politics.