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Collection · Indonesian politics

Independence · New Order · Reformasi · Direct elections

Indonesian presidents,
life by life.

Eight source-led biographies connecting every president to the institutions, crises, elections and public choices that defined modern Indonesia.

The complete presidential sequence

Indonesia’s presidency has moved from revolutionary appointment and assembly selection to direct popular election. This collection keeps constitutional succession, disputed authority and electoral mandate distinct while showing how each administration inherited the structures of the one before it.

  1. 01

    Revolution and Guided Democracy

    Sukarno connected the 1945 proclamation and anti-colonial revolution with Pancasila, parliamentary instability and the increasingly concentrated authority of Guided Democracy.

  2. 02

    The New Order

    Suharto built a development-focused state around military power, bureaucracy and Golkar, ruling for more than three decades before the Asian financial crisis and mass protests ended his presidency.

  3. 03

    The Reformasi transition

    B. J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri opened political competition, negotiated new institutional boundaries and governed through a rapid sequence of constitutional transitions.

  4. 04

    The direct-election era

    Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto won national mandates directly from voters, reshaping party coalitions, executive legitimacy and the meaning of political continuity.

8 sourced biographies

Every president of Indonesia

Official portrait of Indonesian president Suharto in 1978Indonesia · Politics

1921—2008

Suharto

Second President of IndonesiaThe army general who displaced Sukarno and led Indonesia’s New Order from 1967 to 1998, combining economic growth with authoritarian rule.Read biography
Official portrait of Indonesian president B. J. HabibieIndonesia · Politics

1936—2019

B. J. Habibie

Third President of Indonesia and aerospace engineerThe aerospace engineer and technology minister who succeeded Suharto in 1998 and opened Indonesia’s first transition from New Order rule.Read biography
Official portrait of Indonesian president Abdurrahman WahidIndonesia · Politics

1940—2009

Abdurrahman Wahid

Fourth President of Indonesia and Muslim intellectualThe Muslim intellectual known as Gus Dur who led Nahdlatul Ulama, defended pluralism and served as Indonesia’s fourth president from 1999 to 2001.Read biography

Continue the chronology

Place every presidency in historical context

Start with the founding republic, examine the New Order system and follow the reforms that created direct presidential elections.

Indonesian IndependenceSukarno, Hatta and the revolutionary state, 1945–1949The New Order EraSuharto’s rise, rule and fall, 1965–1998ReformasiPolitical opening, constitutional amendments and direct electionsIndonesia BiographiesPolitics, enterprise, sport and culture across the archipelago

Quick answers

Indonesian presidents FAQs

How many presidents has Indonesia had?
Indonesia has had eight presidents, from Sukarno, who took office in 1945, to Prabowo Subianto, who was inaugurated in 2024.
Who was the first president of Indonesia?
Sukarno became Indonesia’s first president in August 1945 and served until presidential authority passed to Suharto in 1967.
Who was Indonesia’s first directly elected president?
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won Indonesia’s first direct presidential election in 2004 and served two five-year terms.
Who was Indonesia’s first woman president?
Megawati Sukarnoputri became Indonesia’s first woman president in July 2001 after serving as vice president.
Who is the current president of Indonesia?
Prabowo Subianto is Indonesia’s eighth president. He was inaugurated with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka on 20 October 2024.