Vice President of Liberia

Deputy head of state and government of Liberia

Vice President of the
Republic of Liberia

Coat of arms of Liberia

Incumbent
Jeremiah Koung

since January 22, 2024

Style| Mr. Vice President
(Informal)
His Excellency
(Formal)
Term length| Six years
Constituting instrument| Constitution of Liberia (1847)
Formation| 3 January 1848; 177 years ago (1848-01-03)
First holder| Nathaniel Brander
Website| www.emansion.gov.lr

Politics of Liberia

Constitution

* 1847 Constitution
* 1986 Constitution

Executive

* President

Joseph Boakai
* Vice President

Jeremiah Koung
* Cabinet

Legislature

* Senate

President Pro Tempore
* House of Representatives

Speaker

Judiciary

* Supreme Court

Chief Justice: Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh
* Human rights

Elections

* Recent elections

* General: 2017
* 2023

* Senate: 2014
* 2020

Political parties

* Unity Party
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* Alternative National Congress
* Liberty Party

Administrative divisions

* Counties
* Districts
* Clans

Foreign relations

* Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Minister: Sara Beysolow Nyanti

* * *

* Diplomatic missions of / in Liberia

* * *

* Nationality law
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Liberia portal

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The vice president of the Republic of Liberia is the second-highest executive official in Liberia, and one of only two elected executive offices along with the president. The vice president is elected on the same ticket with the president to a six-year term. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of the president, the vice president ascends to the presidency, and holds the position for the remainder of their predecessor's term. The vice president also serves as the president of the Senate and may cast a vote in the event of a tie. The current vice president is Jeremiah Koung, serving under president Joseph Boakai. He began his term on January 22, 2024.

## Qualifications

[edit]

Article 52 of the Constitution lays out the qualifications for candidates for vice president. To be eligible for office under the current Constitution, a vice presidential candidate must:

* be a natural born citizen of Liberia;
* be at least thirty-five years old;
* own real property valued at least $25,000;
* have resided in Liberia for at least ten years.

Additionally, the vice president may not reside in the same county as the president.

## Succession

[edit]

Under Article 63(b), the vice president ascends to the presidency in the event of president's death, resignation, impeachment, or when the president is declared incapable of carrying out the duties of the office. In the event of ascension, the vice president serves as president for the remainder of their predecessor's term, though this period is not considered a term for the purposes of term limits to the presidency. According to Article 63(a), should the president-elect die or become otherwise incapacitated before his or her inauguration, the vice president-elect is sworn in as president in their place, though a term of this nature does constitute a term for the purposes of determining term limits.

To date, five vice presidents have ascended to the presidency, either due to the president's death, resignation, or removal from office: James Skivring Smith, Alfred Francis Russell, William D. Coleman, William Tolbert, and Moses Blah.

There have been twelve vacancies in the office, the first of which occurred between October 26, 1871 and January 1, 1872; after the ascension of James Skivring Smith to the office of president. The most recent vacancy was between August 11, 2003 and January 16, 2006; after the ascension of Moses Blah to the office of president and prior to the election of Joseph Boakai.

## List of officeholders

[edit]

Political parties

Republican Party

True Whig Party

National Democratic Party

National Patriotic Party

Unity Party

Other affiliations

Independent

Symbols

† Died in office

No. | Portrait  | Name
(Birth–Death) | Term of office  | Political party  | Elected  | President | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Took office  | Left office  | Time in office
1  |  | Nathaniel Brander
(1796–1870) | January 3, 1848 | January 7, 1850 | 2 years, 4 days  | Independent | 1847 |  | Roberts |
2  |  | Anthony D. Williams
(1799–1860) | January 7, 1850 | January 2, 1854 | 3 years, 360 days  | Independent | 1849 |
1851
3  |  | Stephen Allen Benson
(1816–1865) | January 2, 1854 | January 7, 1856 | 2 years, 5 days  | Republican Party | 1853 |
4  |  | Beverly Page Yates
(1811–1883) | January 7, 1856 | January 2, 1860 | 3 years, 360 days  | Independent | 1855 |  | Benson |
1857
5  |  | Daniel Bashiel Warner
(1815–1880) | January 2, 1860 | January 4, 1864 | 4 years, 2 days  | Republican Party | 1859 |
1861
6  |  | James M. Priest
(1819–1883) | January 4, 1864 | January 6, 1868 | 4 years, 2 days  | Republican Party | 1863 |  | Warner |
1865
7  |  | Joseph Gibson
(1823–1886) | January 6, 1868 | January 3, 1870 | 1 year, 362 days  | Republican Party | 1867 |  | Payne |
8  |  | James Skivring Smith
(1825–1884) | January 3, 1870 | October 26, 1871
(Ascended) | 1 year, 296 days  | True Whig Party | 1869 |  | Roye | [note 1]
Vacancy by ascension  | October 26, 1871 | January 1, 1872 |  |  | Smith
9  |  | Anthony W. Gardiner
(1820–1885) | January 1, 1872 | January 3, 1876 | 4 years, 2 days  | Republican Party | 1871 |  | Roberts |
1873
10  |  | Charles Harmon
(1832–1886) | January 3, 1876 | January 7, 1878 | 2 years, 4 days  | Republican Party | 1875 |  | Payne | [note 2]
11  |  | Alfred Francis Russell
(1817–1884) | January 7, 1878 | January 20, 1883
(Ascended) | 5 years, 13 days  | True Whig Party | 1877 |  | Gardiner | [note 3]
1879
1881
Vacancy by ascension  | January 20, 1883 | January 7, 1884 |  |  | Russell
12  |  | James Thompson
(?–?) | January 7, 1884 | January 4, 1892 | 7 years, 362 days  | True Whig Party | 1883 |  | Johnson |
1885
1887
1889
13  |  | William D. Coleman
(1842–1908) | January 4, 1892 | November 12, 1896
(Ascended) | 4 years, 313 days  | True Whig Party | 1891 |  | Cheeseman | [note 4]
1893
1895
Vacancy by ascension  | November 12, 1896 | January 3, 1898 |  |  | Coleman
14  |  | Joseph J. Ross
(1842–1899) | January 3, 1898 | October 24, 1899[†] | 1 year, 294 days  | True Whig Party | 1897 | [note 5]
1899
Vacancy by death  | October 24, 1899 | January 6, 1902 |
| Gibson
15  |  | Joseph D. Summerville
(1860–1905) | January 6, 1902 | July 27, 1905[†] | 3 years, 202 days  | True Whig Party | 1901 | [note 6]
1903 |  | A. Barclay
Vacancy by death  | July 27, 1905 | January 1, 1906 |
16  |  | James Jenkins Dossen
(1866–1924) | January 1, 1906 | January 1, 1912 | 6 years  | True Whig Party | 1905 |
1907
17  |  | Samuel George Harmon
(1861–1925) | January 1, 1912 | January 5, 1920 | 8 years, 4 days  | True Whig Party | 1911 |  | Howard |
1915
18  |  | Samuel Alfred Ross
(1870–1929) | January 5, 1920 | January 1, 1924 | 3 years, 361 days  | True Whig Party | 1919 |  | King |
19  |  | Henry Too Wesley
(1877–1944) | January 1, 1924 | January 2, 1928 | 4 years, 1 day  | True Whig Party | 1923 |
20  |  | Allen Yancy
(1881–1941) | January 2, 1928 | December 3, 1930
(Resigned) | 2 years, 335 days  | True Whig Party | 1927 | [note 7]
Vacancy by resignation  | December 3, 1930 | 1930  |  |  | E. Barclay
21  |  | James Skivring Smith Jr.
(1891–1950) | 1930  | January 3, 1944 | 13–14 years  | True Whig Party |
1931
1939
22  |  | Clarence Lorenzo Simpson
(1896–1969) | January 3, 1944 | January 1, 1952 | 7 years, 363 days  | True Whig Party | 1943 |  | Tubman |
23  |  | William Tolbert
(1913–1980) | January 1, 1952 | July 23, 1971
(Ascended) | 19 years, 203 days  | True Whig Party | 1951 |
1955
1959
1963
1967
Vacancy by ascension  | July 23, 1971 | April 1972  |  | 1971 |  | Tolbert | [note 8]
24  |  | James Edward Greene
(1914–1977) | April 1972  | July 22, 1977[†] | 5 years, 112 days  | True Whig Party |
1975
Vacancy by death  | July 22, 1977 | October 31, 1977 |
25  |  | Bennie Dee Warner
(1935–2024) | October 31, 1977 | April 12, 1980
(Deposed) | 2 years, 164 days  | True Whig Party | [note 9]
Vacancy due to People's Redemption Council | April 12, 1980 | January 6, 1986 |  | [note 10]
26  |  | Harry Moniba
(1937–2004) | January 6, 1986 | September 9, 1990
(Deposed) | 4 years, 246 days  | National Democratic Party | 1985 |  | Doe |
Vacancy due to First Liberian Civil War | September 9, 1990 | August 2, 1997 |  | [note 11]
27  |  | Enoch Dogolea
(1951–2000) | August 2, 1997 | June 24, 2000[†] | 2 years, 327 days  | National Patriotic Party | 1997 |  | Taylor |
Vacancy by death  | June 24, 2000 | July 24, 2000 |
28  |  | Moses Blah
(1947–2013) | July 24, 2000 | August 11, 2003 | 3 years, 18 days  | National Patriotic Party |
Vacancy by ascension  | August 11, 2003 | October 3, 2003 |  |  | Blah |
Vacancy due to Accra Peace Agreement | October 3, 2003 | January 16, 2006 |  | [note 12]
29  |  | Joseph Boakai
(born 1944) | January 16, 2006 | January 22, 2018 | 12 years, 6 days  | Unity Party | 2005 |  | Sirleaf |
2011
30  |  | Jewel Taylor
(born 1963) | January 22, 2018 | January 22, 2024 | 6 years  | National Patriotic Party | 2017 |  | Weah |
31  |  | Jeremiah Koung
(born 1978) | January 22, 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 168 days  | Unity Party | 2023 |  | Boakai |

## Timeline

[edit]

## See also

[edit]

* Lists of office-holders
* List of current vice presidents

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ President Roye was forcibly removed from office on October 26, 1871. Vice President Smith was sworn in and served the remaining two months of Roye's presidency with no vice president.
2. ^ On 1 January 1878, six days prior to the inauguration of Anthony Gardiner as president, the House of Representatives impeached and suspended President Payne from office. Vice President Harmon served as acting president for the final six days of the administration.[1]
3. ^ President Gardiner resigned from office after falling seriously ill. Vice President Russell served as president for the remaining year of Gardiner's term with no vice president.
4. ^ President Cheeseman died in office. Vice President Coleman served as president for the remainder of Cheeseman's term with no vice president, and then was elected president in his own right in 1897 with Joseph J. Ross as his vice president.
5. ^ Vice President Ross died in 1900, leaving President Coleman without a vice president. On December 11, 1900, Coleman resigned, and Secretary of State Gibson served as president for the remainder of Coleman's term without a vice president, before being elected in his own right in 1901 with Joseph D. Summerville as his vice president.
6. ^ Vice President Summerville died in July 27, 1905 following his and President Gibson's reelection but prior to their inauguration. As no mechanism existed for replacing a vice president, which would have left Gibson without a vice president for his entire term, a constitutional amendment was ratified that year allowing for the president to call a special election in the absence of a vice president to fill the vacancy. J. J. Dossen won the special election in 1905 and was inaugurated along with Gibson in 1906.
7. ^ Both President King and Vice President Yancy resigned on December 3, 1930. Secretary of State Barclay was inaugurated as president, and Vice President James Skivring Smith Jr. was elected in a special election soon after.
8. ^ President Tubman died following his and Tolbert's reelection in 1971, but prior to his inauguration. Tolbert served the remainder of Tubman's sixth term before being inaugurated for Tubman's elected seventh term.
9. ^ Warner was ousted along with the rest of the government by the Armed Forces of Liberia.
10. ^ During 1980–1981 Thomas Weh Syen was Doe's second-in-command in the military administration. Weh Syen was in charge on vice-presidential duties.[2] After Weh Syen was executed on Doe's orders, he was replaced as Vice Head of State by Nicholas Podier.[3]
11. ^ Roland Diggs served as Vice President in the administration of Amos Sawyer from August 1990 to April 1991.[4] He was succeeded in April 1991 by Peter Naigow,[citation needed] who also resigned. There were many Deputy Chairmen of the Council of State of Liberia during 1994–1997, including Dexter Bah Tahyor, Isaac Musa, Charles Taylor, G. V. Kromah, George Boley, Oscar Jaryee Quiah and Tamba Tailor.[5]
12. ^ During this time, the National Transitional Government of Liberia was in charge of government duties. Vice-Chairman Wesley Momo Johnson assumed the duties and powers of the office of vice-president during part of this period.

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vice Presidents of Liberia.

1. ^ Sims, James L.; Seymour, George L.; Benjamin J. K. Anderson; James Fairhead (2003). African-American Exploration in West Africa: Four Nineteenth-Century Diaries. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 72\. ISBN 0-253-34194-9.
2. ^ "Liberian Dialogue article - V.P. Moses Blah's "Death News" Stirs Unwelcome Memories by Tewroh Sungbeh". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
3. ^ "Weh-Syen Weeps?" The Monrovia Express 1981-08-12: 1/8.
4. ^ Jalloh, Tanu (August 1, 2008). "Liberia: Prof Amos Sawyer's Life As a Liberian". AllAfrica.
5. ^ "Notable Women of Liberia @ Liberian Online - Liberia Portal". Archived from the original on March 29, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2009.

* v
* t
* e

Vice presidents of Liberia

* Brander
* Williams
* Benson
* Yates
* D. Warner
* Priest
* Gibson
* Smith Sr.
* Gardiner
* C. Harmon
* Russell
* Thompson
* Coleman
* J. Ross
* Summerville
* Dossen
* S. Harmon
* S. Ross
* Wesley
* Yancy
* Smith Jr.
* Simpson
* Tolbert
* Greene
* B. Warner
* Moniba
* Dogolea
* Blah
* Bokai
* Taylor
* Koung

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