List of political leaders who held active military ranks in office

This article lists national heads of government and heads of state who held an active military rank while in office.

Note that in many countries, the head of state office has an ex officio military rank; for example, the President of the United States is commander in chief of the armed forces. This list omits ex officio ranks.

Africa

Algeria

• Houari Boumediene (Colonel) (in office 1965-1978)
• Khaled Nezzar (Major General) (in office 1992-1994)

Benin

• Christophe Soglo (Colonel) (in office 1963-1964, 1965-1967)
• Alphonse Alley (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1967-1968)
• Maurice Kouandété (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1967-1968)
• Paul-Émile de Souza (Colonel) (in office 1969-1970)
• Mathieu Kérékou (Major) (in office 1972-1991)

Burkina Faso

• Sangoulé Lamizana (Major General) (in office 1966-1980)
• Saye Zerbo (Colonel) (in office 1980-1982)
• Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo (Major) (in office 1982-1983)
• Thomas Sankara (Captain) (in office 1983-1987)
• Blaise Compaoré (Captain) (in office 1987–present)

Burundi

• Michel Micombero (Lieutenant General) (in office 1966-1976)
• Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (Colonel) (in office 1976-1987)
• Pierre Buyoya (Major) (in office 1987-1993)

Central African Republic

• Jean-Bédel Bokassa (Brigadier General) (in office 1966-1979)
• André Kolingba (General) (in office 1981-1993)
• François Bozizé (General) (in office 2003-2013)

Chad

• Félix Malloum (Brigadier General) (in office 1975-1979)

Comoros

• Azali Assoumani (Colonel) (in office 1999-2002)

Republic of the Congo

• Marien Ngouabi (Major) (in office 1969-1977)
• Louis Sylvain Goma (Major) (in office 1975-1984)
• Joachim Yhombi-Opango (Brigadier General) (in office 1977-1979)
• Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Colonel) (in office 1979-1992)

Egypt

• Muhammad Naguib (Major General) (in office 1953-1954)
• Gamal Abdel Nasser (Colonel) (in office 1954-1970)
• Anwar El Sadat (Colonel) (in office 1970-1981)
• Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (Field Marshal) (in office 2011-2012)

Equatorial Guinea

• Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Brigadier General) (in office 1979–present)

Ethiopia

• Tafari Benti (Brigadier General) (in office 1974-1977)
• Mengistu Haile Mariam (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1977-1991)

The Gambia

• Yahya Jammeh (Colonel) (in office 1994–present)

Ghana

• Joseph Arthur Ankrah (Lieutenant General) (in office 1966-1969)
• Akwasi Afrifa (Brigadier) (in office 1969-1970)
• Ignatius Kutu Acheampong (General) (in office 1972-1978)
• Fred Akuffo (Lieutenant General) (in office 1978-1979)
• Jerry Rawlings (Flight Lieutenant) (in office June–September 1979, 1981-2001)

Guinea

• Lansana Conté (General) (in office 1984-2008)
• Diarra Traoré (Colonel) (in office March–December 1984)
• Moussa Dadis Camara (Captain) (in office 2008-2009)
• Sékouba Konaté (Brigadier General) (in office 2009-2010)

Lesotho

• Justin Lekhanya (Major General) (in office 1986-1991)
• Elias Phisoana Ramaema (Major General) (in office 1991-1993)

Liberia

• Samuel Doe (Master Sergeant) (in office 1980-1990)

Libya

• Muammar al-Gaddafi (Colonel) (in office 1969-1979, de facto leader 1979-2011)
• Abdessalam Jalloud (Major) (in office 1972-1977)

Madagascar

• Gabriel Ramanantsoa (Major General) (in office 1972-1975)
• Gilles Andriamahazo (Major General) (in office February–June 1975)
• Didier Ratsiraka (Vice Admiral) (in office 1975-1993)
• Désiré Rakotoarijaona (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1977-1988)
• Charles Rabemananjara (General) (in office 2007-2009)
• Albert Camille Vital (Brigadier General) (in office 2009-2011)

Mali

• Moussa Traoré (Major General) (in office 1968-1991)
• Amadou Toumani Touré (Brigadier General) (in office 1991-1992)
• Amadou Sanogo (Captain) (in office 2012–present)

Mauritania

• Mustafa Ould Salek (Colonel) (in office 1978-1979)
• Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1979-1980)
• Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla (Colonel) (in office 1979-1984)
• Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (Colonel) (in office 1981-2005)
• Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (Colonel) (in office 2005-2007)
• Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (Brigadier General) (in office 2008-)

Niger

• Seyni Kountché (General) (in office 1974-1987)
• Ali Saibou (Brigadier General) (in office 1987-1993)
• Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (Colonel) (in office 1996-1999)
• Daouda Malam Wanké (Major) (in office April–December 1999)
• Salou Djibo (Colonel) (in office 2010-2011)

Nigeria

• Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (Major General) (in office January–July 1966)
• Yakubu Gowon (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1966-1975)
• Murtala Mohammed (General) (in office 1975-1976)
• Olusegun Obasanjo (Lieutenant General) (in office 1976-1979)
• Muhammadu Buhari (Major General) (in office 1983-1985)
• Ibrahim Babangida (Major General) (in office 1985-1993)
• Sani Abacha (General) (in office 1993-1998)
• Abdulsalami Abubakar (General) (in office 1998-1999)

Rwanda

• Juvénal Habyarimana (Major General) (in office 1973-1994)

Sierra Leone

• Andrew Juxon-Smith (Brigadier) (in office 1967-1968)
• Valentine Strasser (Captain) (in office 1992-1996)
• Solomon Musa (Lieutenant) (in office 1992-1993)
• Julius Maada Bio (Brigadier) (in office 1993-1995, January–March 1996)
• Johnny Paul Koroma (Major) (in office 1997-1998)

Somalia

• Siad Barre (Major General) (in office 1969-1991)

Sudan

• Ibrahim Abboud (General) (in office 1958-1964)
• Gaafar Nimeiry (Major General) (in office 1969-1985)
• Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab (General) (in office 1985-1986)
• Omar al-Bashir (Lieutenant General) (in office 1989–present)

Togo

• Kléber Dadjo (Colonel) (in office January–April 1967)
• Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Colonel) (in office 1967-2005)

Uganda

• Idi Amin (Major General) (in office 1971-1979)
• Tito Okello (General) (in office 1985-1986)
• Yoweri Museveni (Lieutenant General) (in office 1986–present)

Zaire

• Mobutu Sese Seko (Lieutenant General) (in office 1965-1997)

Americas

Central America

Costa Rica

• Federico Tinoco Granados (General) (in office 1917-1919)

Cuba

• Fulgencio Batista (Colonel) (in office 1933-1944, 1952-1959)

Dominican Republic

• Rafael Trujillo (Generalissimo) (in office 1930-1961)

El Salvador

• Fernando Figueroa (General) (in office 1907-1911)
• Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (General) (in office 1931-1934, 1935-1944)
• Andrés Ignacio Menéndez (General) (in office 1934-1935, May–October 1944)
• Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (Colonel) (in office 1944-1945)
• Óscar Osorio (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1948-1956)
• José María Lemus (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1956-1960)
• Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo (Colonel) (in office 1962-1967)
• Fidel Sánchez Hernández (General) (in office 1967-1972)
• Arturo Armando Molina (Colonel) (in office 1972-1977)
• Carlos Humberto Romero (General) (in office 1977-1979)

Guatemala

• Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (Colonel) (in office 1951-1954)
• Carlos Castillo Armas (Colonel) (in office 1954-1957)
• Guillermo Flores Avendaño (Colonel) (in office 1957-1958)
• Enrique Peralta Azurdia (Colonel) (in office 1963-1966)
• Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio (Colonel) (in office 1970-1974)
• Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García (Brigadier General) (in office 1974-1982)
• Fernando Romeo Lucas García (Brigadier General) (in office 1978-1982)
• Efraín Ríos Montt (Brigadier General) (in office 1982-1983)
• Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores (Brigadier General) (in office 1983-1986)

Haiti

• Paul Magloire (Major General) (in office 1950-1956)
• Henri Namphy (Lieutenant General) (in office 1986-1988)
• Prosper Avril (Lieutenant General) (in office 1988-1990)
• Raoul Cédras (Lieutenant General) (in office 1991-1994)

Honduras

• Manuel Bonilla (General) (in office 1903-1907, 1912-1913)
• Tiburcio Carías Andino (General) (in office 1933-1949)
• Oswaldo López Arellano (General) (in office 1963-1971, 1972-1975)
• Juan Alberto Melgar Castro (General) (in office 1975-1978)
• Policarpo Paz García (Brigadier General) (in office 1978-1982)

Nicaragua

• Anastasio Somoza Garcia (Major General) (in office 1936-1956)
• Anastasio Somoza Debayle (Major General) (in office 1967-1979)

Panama

• Omar Torrijos (Brigadier General) (in office 1968-1981)
• Florencio Flores Aguilar (Colonel) (in office 1981-1982)
• Rubén Darío Paredes (General) (in office 1982-1983)
• Manuel Noriega (General) (in office 1983-1989)

South America

Argentina

• José Félix Uriburu (Lieutenant General) (in office 1930-1932)
• Pedro Pablo Ramírez (Major General) (in office 1943-1944)
• Edelmiro Julián Farrell (Brigadier General) (in office 1944-1946)
• Pedro Eugenio Aramburu (Lieutenant General) (in office 1955-1958)
• Juan Carlos Onganía (Lieutenant General) (in office 1966-1970)
• Roberto M. Levingston (Brigadier General) (in office 1970-1971)
• Alejandro Agustín Lanusse (Lieutenant General) (in office 1971-1973)
• Jorge Rafael Videla (Lieutenant General) (in office 1976-1981)
• Leopoldo Galtieri (Lieutenant General) (in office 1981-1982)

Bolivia

• Carlos Blanco Galindo (General) (in office 1930-1931)
• David Toro (Colonel) (in office 1936-1937)
• Germán Busch (Colonel) (in office 1937-1939)
• Carlos Quintanilla (General) (in office 1939-1940)
• Enrique Peñaranda (General) (in office 1940-1943)
• Gualberto Villarroel (Major) (in office 1943-1946)
• Hugo Ballivián (General) (in office 1951-1952)
• René Barrientos (General) (in office 1964-1965, 1966-1969)
• Alfredo Ovando Candía (General) (in office 1965-1966, 1969-1970)
• Juan José Torres (General) (in office 1970-1971)
• Hugo Banzer (General) (in office 1971-1978)
• David Padilla (General) (in office 1978-1979)
• Luis García Meza Tejada (Major General) (in office 1980-1981)
• Celso Torrelio (Major General) (in office 1981-1982)

Brazil

• Deodoro da Fonseca (Marshal) (in office 1889-1891)
• Floriano Peixoto (Marshal) (in office 1891-1894)
• Hermes da Fonseca (Marshal) (in office 1910-1914)
• Eurico Gaspar Dutra (Marshal) (in office 1946-1951)
• Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (Marshal) (in office 1964-1967)
• Artur da Costa e Silva (Marshal) (in office 1967-1969)
• Emílio Garrastazu Médici (Army General) (in office 1969-1974)
• Ernesto Geisel (Army General) (in office 1974-1979)
• João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo (Army General) (in office 1979-1985)

Chile

• Jorge Montt (Vice Admiral) (in office 1891-1896)
• Luis Altamirano (Major General) (in office 1924-1925)
• Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (General) (in office 1927-1931)
• Augusto Pinochet (Captain General) (in office 1973-1990)

Colombia

• Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (General) (in office 1953-1957)
• Gabriel París Gordillo (Major General) (in office 1957-1958)

Ecuador

• Alberto Enríquez Gallo (General) (in office 1937-1938)
• Ramón Castro Jijón (Admiral) (in office 1963-1966)
• Guillermo Rodríguez (General) (in office 1972-1976)
• Alfredo Poveda (Admiral) (in office 1976-1979)

Paraguay

• Higinio Moríñigo (Major General) (in office 1940-1948)
• Alfredo Stroessner (Major General) (in office 1954-1989)
• Andrés Rodríguez (Lieutenant General) (in office 1989-1993)

Peru

• Remigio Morales Bermúdez (Colonel) (in office 1890-1894)
• Óscar R. Benavides (Brigadier General / Major General) (in office 1914-1915, 1933-1939)
• Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (Brigadier General) (in office 1930-1933)
• Manuel A. Odría (Major General) (in office 1948-1956)
• Zenón Noriega Agüero (Major General) (in office 1950-1954)
• Ricardo Pérez Godoy (General) (in office 1962-1963)
• Nicolás Lindley López (General) (in office 1962-1963)
• Juan Velasco Alvarado (Major General) (in office 1968-1975)
• Francisco Morales Bermúdez (General) (in office 1975-1980)

Suriname

• Dési Bouterse (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1980-1988)

Uruguay

• Gregorio Conrado Alvarez (Major General) (in office 1981-1985)

Venezuela

• Eleazar López Contreras (Brigadier General) (in office 1935-1941)
• Isaías Medina Angarita (Brigadier General) (in office 1941-1945)
• Carlos Delgado Chalbaud (Colonel) (in office 1948-1950)
• Marcos Pérez Jiménez (Major General) (in office 1950-1958)

Asia

Bangladesh

• Ziaur Rahman (Lieutenant General) (in office 1976-1981)
• Hussain Muhammad Ershad (Lieutenant General) (in office 1982-1990)

Cambodia

• Lon Nol (Lieutenant General) (in office 1966-1967, 1969-1975)

Indonesia

• Suharto (Major General) (in office 1967-1998)

Iran

• Reza Khan (Brigadier) (in office 1923-1925)
• Haj Ali Razmara (General) (in office 1950-1951)
• Hossein Ala' (Colonel) (in office March–April 1951, 1955-1957)
• Fazlollah Zahedi (Major General) (in office 1953-1955)
• Gholam Reza Azhari (Major General) (in office 1978-1979)

Iraq

• Jamil al-Midfai (Major General) (in office 1933-1934, 1935, 1937-1938, 1941, 1953)
• Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi (in office 1934-1935, 1949-1950)
• Abd al-Karim Qasim (General) (in office 1958-1963)
• Taha al-Hashimi (in office 1941)
• Nureddin Mahmud (in office 1952-1953)
• Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i (in office 1958-1963)
• Abdul Salam Arif (Field Marshal) (in office 1963-1966)
• Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif (in office 1966)
• Abdul Rahman Arif (General) (in office 1966-1968)
• Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (General) (in office February–November 1963, 1968-1979)

Japan

• Hideki Tojo (General) (in office 1941-1944)
• Kuniaki Koiso (General) (in office 1944-1945)

Laos

• Khamtai Siphandon (Lieutenant General) (1991-2006)
• Choummaly Sayasone (Lieutenant General) (2006–present)

North Yemen

• Ibrahim al-Hamadi (Lieutenant Colonel) (1974-1977)

Myanmar

• Ne Win (General) (in office 1958-1960, 1962-1981)
• Sein Win (Brigadier General) (in office 1974-1977)
• Maung Maung Kha (Colonel) (in office 1977-1988)
• Tun Tin (Colonel) (in office June–September 1988)
• Saw Maung (Senior General) (in office 1988-1992)
• Than Shwe (Senior General) (in office 1992-2011)
• Khin Nyunt (General) (in office 2003-2004)
• Soe Win (General) (in office 2004-2007)
• Thein Sein (General) (in office 2007–present)

Pakistan

• Ayub Khan (Field Marshal) (in office 1958-1969)
• Yahya Khan (General) (in office 1969-1971)
• Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (General) (in office 1977-1988)
• Pervez Musharraf (General) (in office 1999-2008)

Philippines

• Emilio Aguinaldo (General) (in office 1899-1901)

Republic of China

• Chiang Kai-shek (Generalissimo) (in office 1928-1975)
• Li Zongren (General) (in office 1949-1950)
• Chen Cheng (General) (in office 1950-1954, 1958-1963)

South Korea

• Song Yo Chan (Lieutenant General) (in office 1961-1962)
• Park Chung-hee (General) (in office 1962-1979)
• Chun Doo-hwan (General) (in office 1980-1988)

South Vietnam

• Duong Van Minh (General) (in office 1963-January 1964, February–October 1964)
• Nguyen Khanh (General) (in office January–August, September–November 1964)
• Nguyen Cao Ky (Air Vice Marshal) (in office 1965-1967)
• Nguyen Van Thieu (Lieutenant General) (in office 1965-1975)

Syria

• Fawzi Selu (General) (in office 1951-1953)
• Adib Shishakli (General) (in office 1953-1954)
• Amin al-Hafiz (General) (in office 1963-1966)
• Hafez al-Assad (General) (in office 1970-2000)

Thailand

• Plaek Pibulsonggram (Field Marshal) (in office 1938-1944, 1948-1957)
• Thanom Kittikachorn (Field Marshal) (in office January–October 1958, 1963-1973)
• Sarit Dhanarajata (Field Marshal) (in office 1958-1963)
• Sangad Chaloryu (Admiral) (junta leader 1976-1980)
• Prem Tinsulanonda (General) (in office 1980-1988)
• Sunthorn Kongsompong (General) (junta leader 1991-1992)
• Suchinda Kraprayoon (General) (in office April–May 1992)
• Sonthi Boonyaratglin (General) (junta leader September–October 2006)
• Surayud Chulanont (General) (in office 2006-2008)

Europe

Bulgaria

• Kimon Georgiev (Colonel General) (in office 1934-1935, 1944-1946)

England

• Oliver Cromwell (Captain General) (in office 1653-1658)

Finland

• Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (General / Field Marshal) (in office 1918-1919, 1944-1946)

France

• Louis Jules Trochu (General) (in office 1870-1871)
• Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta (Marshal of France) (in office 1873-1879)
• Philippe Pétain (Marshal of France) (in office 1940-1944)
• François Darlan (Admiral) (in office 1941-1942)
• Charles de Gaulle (Brigadier General) (in office 1944-1946)

Germany

• Paul von Hindenburg (Field Marshall) (in office 1925-1934)
• Adolf Hitler (Supreme Commander) (in office 1933-1945)
• Karl Dönitz (Grand Admiral) (in office April–May 1945)

Greece

• Stylianos Gonatas (Colonel) (in office 1922-1924)
• Theodoros Pangalos (Lieutenant General) (in office 1924-1926)
• Ioannis Metaxas (General) (in office 1936-1941)
• Nikolaos Plastiras (General) (in office January–April 1945)
• Petros Voulgaris (Rear Admiral) (in office April–October 1945)
• Georgios Zoitakis (Lieutenant General) (in office 1967-1972)
• Georgios Papadopoulos (Colonel) (in office 1967-1973)
• Phaedon Gizikis (General) (in office 1973-1974)

Hungary

• Miklós Horthy (Vice-Admiral) (in office 1920-1944)
• Döme Sztójay (Colonel General) (in office March–August 1944)
• Géza Lakatos (Colonel General) (in office August–October 1944)
• Béla Miklós (Colonel General) (in office February–November 1945)

Montenegro

• Janko Vukotić (General) (in office 1913-1915)

Italy

• Benito Mussolini (Supreme Commander) (in office 1925-1943)

Poland

• Józef Piłsudski (Marshal of Poland) (in office 1918-1922, de facto leader 1926-1935)
• Wladyslaw Sikorski (Major General) (in office 1922-1923)
• Felicjan Slawoj Skladkowski (Major General) (in office 1936-1939)
• Wojciech Jaruzelski (General) (in office 1981-1990)

Portugal

• Joao do Canto e Castro (Admiral) (in office 1918-1919)
• Óscar Carmona (Marshal) (in office 1926-1951)
• Francisco Craveiro Lopes (General) (in office 1951-1958)
• Américo Tomás (Rear Admiral) (in office 1958-1974)
• António de Spínola (General) (in office April–September 1974)
• Francisco da Costa Gomes (General) (in office 1974-1976)

Romania

• Ion Antonescu (Marshal of Romania) (in office 1940-1944)
• Nicolae Rădescu (Lieutenant General (in office 1944-1945)

Spain

• Miguel Primo de Rivera (Captain General) (in office 1923-1930)
• Francisco Franco (Generalissimo) (in office 1939-1975)
• Luis Carrero Blanco (Admiral) (in office June–December 1973)

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

• Josip Broz Tito (Marshal of Yugoslavia) (in office 1945-1980)

Soviet Union

• Kliment Voroshilov (Marshal of the Soviet Union) (in office 1953-1960)

Oceania

Fiji

• Sitiveni Rabuka (Colonel) (in office May–December 1987)
• Frank Bainimarama (Commodore) (in office May–July 2000, 2006–present)