President of Iceland

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President of Iceland
Presidential Standard
Incumbent	Image:Ólafur.Grímsson.Island.jpg Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson took office: August 1, 1996

Inaugural	Sveinn Björnsson
Formation	June 17, 1944
Website	www.english.forseti.is

The President of Iceland (Icelandic: forseti Íslands) is Iceland's elected head of state. The president is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage and has limited powers. The president is not the head of government; the Prime Minister of Iceland is the head of government. There have been five presidents since Iceland gained independence from Denmark in 1944. The incumbent is Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who was re-elected in the 2004 presidential election, having been first elected in 1996.

The presidential residence is situated in Bessastaðir in Álftanes. The nation's constitution specifies that when the president cannot perform the duties of the office, such as when he or she is abroad or under anesthesia, the prime minister, the president of the Althingi (Parliament), and the president of the Supreme Court take over the power vested in the office. The three vote on any presidential decisions that must be made during that time. The president is also the designated Grand Master of the Order of the Falcon.

1 Presidents of Iceland
2 Latest election
3 See also
4 External links

Presidents of Iceland

Since 1944, when the office was created, only five people have held the position of President of Iceland. These are the following:[1]

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Sveinn Björnsson	17 June 1944	25 January 1952	First President and Regent of Iceland 17 June 1941 - 16 June 1944. The only president to die in office. In 1950 considered forming a government that did not rely on parliamentary support after leaders of the parliamentary parties had reached an impasse.
	Interim Triumvirate	26 January 1952	31 July 1952	Acting head of state	Members: Steingrímur Steinþórsson, Prime Minister, Jón Pálmason, Speaker of the Althing, Jón Ásbjörnsson, President of the Supreme Court
2	Ásgeir Ásgeirsson	1 August 1952	1 August 1968	First elected by popular vote.
3	Kristján Eldjárn	1 August 1968	1 August 1980	At one point considered forming a government that did not rely on parliamentary support after leaders of the parliamentary parties had reached an impasse.
4	Vigdís Finnbogadóttir	1 August 1980	1 August 1996	Was the world's first elected female president and overwhelmingly won a contested election in 1988.
5	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson	1 August 1996	Present	First president to use the authorization to veto a law from Alþingi.

Latest election

Main article: Icelandic presidential election, 2004

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 26 June 2004 Icelandic presidential election results**
Candidates	Votes	%
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson	90,662	85.6
Baldur Ágústsson	13,250	12.3
Ástþór Magnússon	2,001	1.9
Total valid votes (turnout 63.0%)	105,913	100.0
Empty ballots	27,627	23.3%
Void votes	834
Source: ruv.is

External links

official website

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