President of Iceland

The **President of Iceland** () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who became president in 2024.

The president is elected to a four-year term by popular vote, is not term-limited, and has limited powers. The presidential residence is in Bessastaðir in Garðabær, near the capital city Reykjavík.

## List

There have been seven presidents since the creation of the republic.

**Term:** <sup>1</sup> _appointed_ · <sup>2</sup> _died in office_ · <sup>3</sup> _uncontested_

|Nº|colspan="2"|President|Took office|Left office|Duration|Term|Prime ministers||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="4" style="text-align: right;"|**1**|rowspan="4"||rowspan="4" style="width: 20%;"|**Sveinn Björnsson** <small>(1881–1952)</small>|rowspan="3"|17 June 1944|rowspan="3"|25 January 1952<sup>2</sup>|rowspan="3"|7 years, 7 months, 8 days <small>(2,778 days)</small>|1 <small>(1944)</small><sup>1</sup>|rowspan="3"|Björn Þórðarson Ólafur Thors Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson Ólafur Thors Steingrímur Steinþórsson|
|2 <small>(1945)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|3 <small>(1949)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|colspan="5"|<small>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 jointly in the prime minister (Steingrímur Steinþórsson), the president of the Parliament (Jón Pálmason) and the president of the Supreme Court (Jón Ásbjörnsson).</small>||||||||||||||
|rowspan="5" style="text-align: right;"|**2**|rowspan="5"||rowspan="5"|**Ásgeir Ásgeirsson** <small>(1894–1972)</small>|rowspan="4"|1 August 1952|rowspan="4"|31 July 1968|rowspan="4"|16 years <small>(5,844 days)</small>|4 <small>(1952)</small>|rowspan="4"|Steingrímur Steinþórsson Ólafur Thors Hermann Jónasson Emil Jónsson Ólafur Thors Bjarni Benediktsson Ólafur Thors Bjarni Benediktsson|
|5 <small>(1956)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|6 <small>(1960)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|7 <small>(1964)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|colspan="5"|<small>First president elected by popular vote.</small>||||||||||||||
|rowspan="4" style="text-align: right;"|**3**|rowspan="4"||rowspan="4"|**Kristján Eldjárn** <small>(1916–1982)</small>|rowspan="3"|1 August 1968|rowspan="3"|31 July 1980|rowspan="3"|12 years <small>(4,383 days)</small>|8 <small>(1968)</small>|rowspan="3"|Bjarni Benediktsson Jóhann Hafstein Ólafur Jóhannesson Geir Hallgrímsson Ólafur Jóhannesson Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal Gunnar Thoroddsen|
|9 <small>(1972)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|10 <small>(1976)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|colspan="5"|<small>At one point considered forming a government that did not rely on parliamentary support after leaders of the parliamentary parties had reached an impasse.</small>||||||||||||||
|rowspan="5" style="text-align: right;"|**4**|rowspan="5"||rowspan="5"|**Vigdís Finnbogadóttir** <small>(born 1930)</small>|rowspan="4"|1 August 1980|rowspan="4"|31 July 1996|rowspan="4"|16 years <small>(5,844 days)</small>|11 <small>(1980)</small>|rowspan="4"|Gunnar Thoroddsen Steingrímur Hermannsson Þorsteinn Pálsson Steingrímur Hermannsson Davíð Oddsson|
|12 <small>(1984)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|13 <small>(1988)</small>|||||||||||||||
|14 <small>(1992)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|colspan="5"|<small>Was the world's first elected female president. Won first term in office with the lowest historical share of the votes for a first-term election (33.79%) but overwhelmingly won her third-term election in 1988.</small>||||||||||||||
|rowspan="6" style="text-align: right;"|**5**|rowspan="6"||rowspan="6"|**Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson** <small>(born 1943)</small>|rowspan="5"|1 August 1996|rowspan="5"|31 July 2016|rowspan="5"|20 years <small>(7,305 days)</small>|15 <small>(1996)</small>|rowspan="5"|Davíð Oddsson Halldór Ásgrímsson Geir Haarde Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson|
|16 <small>(2000)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|17 <small>(2004)</small>|||||||||||||||
|18 <small>(2008)</small><sup>3</sup>|||||||||||||||
|19 <small>(2012)</small>|||||||||||||||
|colspan="5"|<small>First to use the constitutional veto power under Article 26 to deny signing a law from the Parliament. Used it again on two occasions.</small>||||||||||||||
|rowspan="3" style="text-align: right;"|**6**|rowspan="3"||rowspan="3"|**Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson** <small>(born 1968)</small>|rowspan="2"|1 August 2016|rowspan="2"|31 July 2024|rowspan="2"|<small>( days)</small>|20 <small>(2016)</small>|rowspan="2"|Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson Bjarni Benediktsson Katrín Jakobsdóttir Bjarni Benediktsson|
|21 <small>(2020)</small>|||||||||||||||
|colspan="5"|<small>Overwhelmingly won his second-term election in 2020.</small>||||||||||||||
|rowspan="2" style="text-align: right;"|**7**|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|**Halla Tómasdóttir** <small>(born 1968)</small>|1 August 2024||<small>( days)</small>|22 <small>(2024)</small>|Bjarni Benediktsson|||||
|colspan="5"|<small></small><small>Won with the second lowest historical share of the votes for a first-term election (34.15%). This was her second attempt at a presidential run, the first one having been in 2016 where she came in second.</small>||||||||||||||

## Infobox (official post)

- **post**: President
- **body**: Iceland
- **native name**: _Forseti Íslands_
- **insignia**: Coat of arms of the President of Iceland.svg
- **insigniasize**: 75px
- **insigniacaption**: Coat of arms of Iceland, Presidential coat of arms
- **flag**: Flag of the President of Iceland.svg
- **flagsize**: 125px
- **flagcaption**: Flag of Iceland, Presidential Standard
- **imagesize**: 165px
- **incumbent**: Halla Tómasdóttir
- **image**: Halla Tómasdóttir at Arctic Circle 2024 cropped.jpg
- **incumbentsince**: 1 August 2024
- **department**: Office of the President
- **member of**: State Council of Iceland
- **residence**: Bessastaðir
- **seat**: Garðabær, Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region
- **termlength**: Four years
<small>Renewable indefinitely as long as the incumbent wins presidential elections or is uncontested.</small>
- **constituting instrument**: Constitution of Iceland
- **precursor**: Monarchy of Iceland, King of Iceland
- **formation**: 17 June 1944
- **inaugural**: Sveinn Björnsson
- **succession**: Collective
<small>President of the Althing, Parliament, Prime Minister of Iceland, Prime Minister and President of the Supreme Court of Iceland, Supreme Court.</small>
- **salary**: EUR, €289,000 annual (2017)
- **website**:

- **appointer**: Direct popular vote