President of the United Federation of Planets The President of the United Federation of Planets ( informally , the Federation President or the President of the Federation ) was the elected head of state and head of government of the United Federation of Planets . ( ; ; ) The Federation President was the chief executive officer of the Federation . The President was responsible for the day - to - day operation of the government , setting and coordinating foreign policy , and dealing with resource distribution issues . ( ; ) The Federation President was also the commander - in - chief of all Starfleet forces . ( ) They had the power to pardon criminals . ( ) The President received foreign ambassador s and had the authority to control Starfleet deployments and to declare martial law on Federation member worlds . ( ; ) In addition , the President could preside over special courts martial in which the Federation Council served as the judging body . ( ) The President was supported by the Cabinet , a special committee comprised of the heads of the executive departments of the Federation government . ( ) The Federation President ' s office was located on Earth in the city of Paris , France . ( ; ) " While in the mirror universe , after seeing that was the Regent of the Klingon - Cardassian Alliance , Rom was so taken aback he exclaimed " " Who ' s the President of the Federation , Gul Dukat ! ? " " " ( ) Jonathan Archer . Retired United Earth Starfleet Admiral Jonathan Archer served as President from 2184 through 2192 . ( ) Human President , c . 2286 . In 2286 , a Human fulfilled the role of President . That year he presided over the Council ' s deliberations concerning the actions of Federation Starfleet Admiral James T . Kirk , who had hijacked the and exacerbated an interstellar incident with the Klingon Empire at the planet . Ultimately , the Council decided to charge Kirk with nine violations of Starfleet regulations . When the Whale Probe approached Earth , transmitting its destructive message into the planet ' s atmosphere , the President decided to broadcast a planetary distress signal to warn all ships to stay away from Earth . Following the Whale Probe incident ( in which Kirk and his crew saved the planet ) , the President and the Council agreed to drop all but one of the charges against the " Enterprise " crew , the remaining charge of disobeying orders simply resulting in Kirk being demoted to captain – as he wanted all along – in gratitude for their service to Earth and the Federation . ( ) Efrosian President , c . 2293 . In 2293 , the President , an Efrosian , opened negotiations with Klingon chancellor Gorkon , following the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis . The President was to meet Gorkon on Earth for a peace conference , but Gorkon was assassinated en route by a pair of rogue Starfleet non - commissioned officer s . Captain Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy were arrested by the Klingons under the rules of interstellar law and charged with Gorkon ' s assassination ; when Kamarag , the Empire ' s Ambassador to the Federation , defended his government ' s actions and demanded that Kirk and McCoy stand trial , the President conceded , " " This president is not above the law . " " A short time later , Starfleet Colonel West proposed a military offensive ( code - named Operation Retrieve ) aimed at invading Klingon space and rescuing the " hostage s " , Kirk and McCoy . Although West was confident that the prisoners could be retrieved , the President rejected his plan because of the probability that such an act would cause a full - scale war . At the Khitomer Conference , the President was targeted for assassination by the Starfleet and Klingon conspirators , but the plot was foiled by the crew of the " Enterprise " with assistance by the crew of the . ( ) Jaresh - Inyo , c . 2372 . In 2372 , the post was held by Jaresh - Inyo , a Grazerite . His presidency was marked by a number of troubling foreign and domestic policy developments , including the dissolution of the Khitomer Accords and an undeclared war with the Klingon Empire in 2372 , increasing tensions with the Dominion , and the rise of the Maquis . In 2372 , fears of Changeling infiltration of the Federation government reached a high point when Dominion agent s were discovered to have detonated a bomb at a diplomat ic conference between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire in Antwerp . Starfleet Admiral and Chief of Starfleet Operations Leyton and Captain Benjamin Sisko advocated increased security on Earth following the bombing , and when the planetary power grid was disabled , Inyo declared martial law on the capital planet . Later , it was discovered that the grid had been disabled by Leyton ' s own agents , and that Leyton was leading an attempted military " coup d ' etat " against the Federation civilian government . Leyton ' s " coup " was thwarted by Sisko , but as a result of the scandal , Jaresh - Inyo ' s political career ended . ( ) Jaresh - Inyo left office sometime prior to 2375 . While questioning Luther Sloan , Julian Bashir discovered that Section 31 had an operative working in Jaresh - Inyo ' s cabinet . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The method of electing the President of the United Federation of Planets has never been discussed in a canonical " Star Trek " production . The Last Unicorn sourcebook for the Federation suggests that the President is elected by members of the Federation Council , similar to a parliamentary government . According to a newspaper clipping created as background material for and entitled " It ' s Federation Day ! " , the first President of the United Federation of Planets was former United Earth ambassador Thomas Vanderbilt , appointed upon the founding of the Federation in 2161 . Ambassador Sarahd was appointed as his Vice - President . This information , however , was not seen on - screen . Answering questions as to why Jaresh - Inyo put Earth into a state of emergency , Ronald D . Moore stated : During the fifth season , Ron D . Moore in an AOL chat gave a summary of what was going on in the show , ending by joking that Morn had become President of the Federation . ( Apocrypha . The President of the Federation and the duties of the office are the subjects of the novel " Articles of the Federation " , which tells the story of a year in the life of the newly - elected Federation President in a style similar to that of the television series " The West Wing " . The novel also names several prior Federation Presidents , including the ones who are canonically " name unknown . " It establishes that the office is held in four - year terms ( without a two - term limit ) , similar to the modern American presidency . The novel " A Time for War , A Time for Peace " establishes that an individual anonymously submits an application for candidacy to the Federation Council , which reviews each application and certifies that a candidate fills all qualifications for the office . Approved candidates then campaign in a popular election . All Federation citizens within and without UFP territory are allowed to submit their ballots , which are tabulated over the course of a week by two independent auditing firms and by the Federation government before a winner is certified . The Federation News Service commonly projects a winner in the days leading up to Election Day , and has never projected erroneously . Presidents of the United Federation of Planets depicted in the television series , films , novels , and comics include :