List of Polish heads of state (1918–present)

History of Poland
	Chronology
	Until 966; 966–1385; 1385–1569; 1569–1795; 1795–1918; 1918–1939; 1939–1945; 1945–1989; 1989–present
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[edit] Head of State (Naczelnik Państwa, 1918-1922)

Marshal Józef Klemens Piłsudski (14 November 1918 - 14 December 1922) (and de facto dictator of Poland from the coup d'état on 14 May 1926 until his death on 12 May 1935).

#	President	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Gabriel Narutowicz	14 December 1922	16 December 1922	Assassinated
A	Maciej Rataj	16 December 1922	20 December 1922	1st time, acting
2	Stanisław Wojciechowski	20 December 1922	14 May 1926	deposed in the May Coup
A	Maciej Rataj	15 May 1926	4 June 1926	2nd time, acting
	Józef Piłsudski	elected 31 May 1926		President-elect, refused to take office
3	Ignacy Mościcki	4 June 1926	30 September 1939	Exiled in Romania from 27 September 1939) after Poland's defeat. He then became the Inspector-General of the Polish Armed Forces. Previously he was the surrogate ruler of Poland during the Piłsudski dictatorship following the May Coup.

The Polish Government in exile was recognized by the United States and the United Kingdom until 6 July 1945.

#	President	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski	September 1939
2	Władysław Raczkiewicz	1939	1947	Died in office
3	August Zaleski	1947	1972	Died in office, longest-serving President
4	Stanisław Ostrowski	1972	1979
5	Edward Raczyński	1979	1986
6	Kazimierz Sabbat	1986	1989	Died in office
7	Ryszard Kaczorowski	1989	1990	Resigned after the election of Lech Wałęsa

Recognized by the United States and the United Kingdom since 6 July 1945

Until the year 1952, the President was also the chairman of the Council of State. The July Constitution abolished the office of president. Since then, the Council of State was the de iure collective head of state, but the First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party were the de facto rulers.

#	First Secretary	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	Władysław Gomułka	23 November 1943	3 September 1948	1st time
2	Bolesław Bierut	3 September 1948	12 March 1956
3	Edward Ochab	20 March 1956	21 October 1956
4	Władysław Gomułka	21 October 1956	20 December 1970	2nd time
5	Edward Gierek	20 December 1970	6 September 1980
6	Stanisław Kania	6 September 1980	18 October 1981
7	Wojciech Jaruzelski	18 October 1981	29 July 1989
8	Mieczysław Rakowski	29 July 1989	27 January 1990

#	President	Took office	Left office	Notes
2	Lech Wałęsa	22 December 1990	22 December 1995	First President elected by the popular vote
A	Józef Zych	23 December 1995	23 December 1995	Acting
3	Aleksander Kwaśniewski	23 December 1995	23 December 2005	First President reelected by the popular vote
4	Lech Kaczyński	23 December 2005	Incumbent