Complete List of Presidents of India - December 2020

The President of India is the head of state of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The 'President' is referred to as the first citizen of India. There have been 14 presidents of India since the post established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. Apart from these fourteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for a short period. Article 74(1) of the Constitution states that there shall be a council of ministers with Prime Minister as its head to aid and advice the President of India.

	Name of the President	Tenure	Total	Remark
1	Dr. Rajendra Prasad	26th January 1950 To 13th May 1962	12 Years, 107 Days	First President, Longest Tenure
2	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	13th May 1962 To 13th May 1967	5 Years, 0 Days	Teacher's day (5th September) to honour his Birthday
3	Dr. Zakir Hussain	13th May 1967 To 03rd May 1969	1 Year, 355 Days	First Muslim President, Shortest Tenure
4	Varahagiri Venkata Giri (V. V. Giri)	24th August 1969 To 24th August 1974	5 Years, 0 Days	First Acting President
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	24th August 1974 To 11th February 1977	2 Years, 171 Days	Died in Office
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	25th July 1977 To 25th July 1982	5 Years, 0 Days	Youngest President @64Yrs
7	Gaini Zain Singh	25th July 1982 To 25th July 1987	5 Years, 0 Days	First Sikh President
8	Ramaswamy Venkataraman	25th July 1987 To 25th July 1992	5 Years, 0 Days	Oldest President @76Yrs
9	Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma	25th July 1992 To 25th July 1997	5 Years, 0 Days
10	Kocheril Raman Narayanan	25th July 1997 To 25th July 2002	5 Years, 0 Days	First Dalit President
11	Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam	25th July 2002 To 25th July 2007	5 Years, 0 Days	First Scientist/Bachelor President
12	Pratibha Patil	25th July 2007 To 25th July 2012	5 Years, 0 Days	First Women President
13	Pranab Mukherjee	25th July 2012 To 25th July 2017	5 Years, 0 Days
14	Ram Nath Kovind	25th July 2017 To Incumbent	5 Years, 0 Days

Also Read: Current Chief Ministers of Indian States

1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad: Rajendra Prasad (3rd December 1884 - 28th February 1963) was an Indian independence activist, scholar, lawyer and the First President of India. Two and a half years after independence, on 26th January 1950, the Constitution of Independent India was ratified, and Prasad was elected the nation's first President of India. He is the only President of India to elected for two consecutive terms in 1952 and 1957. In 1962, after serving 12 years as the President, he announced his decision to retire. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award. He died on 28th February 1963, aged 78. Rajendra Smriti Sangrahalaya in Patna is dedicated to him.

 

 

2. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5th September 1888 - 17th April 1975) was an Indian philosopher, academic, and statesman. He served as the 1st Vice-President of India (1952 - 1962) and the 2nd President of India (1962 - 1967). He is the only President who could not attend the Delhi Republic Day parade due to his ill health.

 

After Radhakrishnan became the President, some of his friends and students requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, on 5th September. He replied,

 

Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5th September is observed as Teachers' Day.

 

His birthday has since been celebrated as Teacher's Day in India.

 

 

3. Dr. Zakir Hussain: Zakir Hussain (8th February 1897 – 3rd May 1969) served as the 3rd President of India, from 13th May 1967 until his death on 3rd May 1969. He served the shortest time as a president with 1 Year, 355 Days. He previously served as Vice-President of India from 1962 to 1967. In 1963, He received the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award. He was the first Muslim President and the first President to die in office.

Also Read: List of States of USA

 

 

4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri: V. V. Giri (10th August 1894 - 24th June 1980) is the 4th president of India from 1969 to 1974. He is the only President to be elected as an independent candidate. In 1975, V. V. Giri was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award for his contributions in the area of public affairs.

 

 

5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13th May 1905 - 11th February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the 5th President of India from 1974 to 1977. He became the 2nd Muslim to be elected President of India. He was also the 2nd President to die in office. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Pristina, in 1975.

 

 

 

6. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy: Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (19th May 1913 - 1st June 1996) was elected on 21st July 1977 and was sworn in as the 6th President of India on 25th July 1977. He is the Youngest President of India at the age of 64 Years and 67 Days. Sanjiva Reddy worked with three governments, with Prime Ministers Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Indira Gandhi. He died of pneumonia in Bangalore at the age of 83 in 1996.

 

 

7. Gaini Zain Singh: Gaini Zain Singh (Jarnail Sing) (5th May 1916 - 25th December 1994) was the 7th President of India serving from 1982 to 1987. He is the First Sikh President in Indian History. After his election, Gaini Singh was quoted to have said, "If my leader had said I should pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that. She chose me to be President". On 29th November 1994, Zail Singh suffered multiple injuries following a motor accident near Kiratpur Sahib in Ropar district when a truck driving down the wrong side of the road hit the car he was travelling in, and He died on Christmas Day in 1994, aged 78.

 

 

8. Ramaswamy Venkataraman: Ramaswamy Venkataraman (4th December 1910 - 27th January 2009) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the 8th President of India. He is the Oldest President of India at the age of 76 years old. He worked with four prime ministers and appointed three of them: V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P V Narasimha Rao. Venkataraman received the Doctorate of Law (Honoris Causa) from the University of Madras, the Doctorate of Law (Honoris Causa) from Nagarjuna University.

 

 

9. Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma: S.D. Sharma (19th August 1918 - 26th December 1999) is the 9th President of India, serving from 1992 to 1997. Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal is awarded in selected prestigious Indian universities. This award was constituted, in the year 1994, by endowments received from Shankar Dayal Sharma. On 26th December 1999, he suffered a massive heart attack and was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi, where he died.

 

 

10. Kocheril Raman Narayanan: Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27th October 1920 - 9th November 2005) was a politician, Indian diplomat who served as the 10th President of India (1997 - 2002) and 9th Vice-President of India (1992 - 1997). Narayanan was elected to the President (17th July 1997) with 95% of the votes in the electoral college. K. R. Narayanan died on 9th November 2005 aged 85 at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, New Delhi, after being briefly ill with pneumonia and consequent renal failure.

 

 

11. Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (15th October 1931 - 27th July 2015) was Indian aerospace scientist and politician who served as the 11th President of India from 25th July 2002 to 25th July 2007. 

 

I am really overwhelmed. Everywhere both in Internet and in other media, I have been asked for a message. I was thinking what message I can give to the people of the country at this juncture.

 

Kalam travelled to Shillong to deliver a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at the "Indian Institute of Management Shillong" on 27th July 2015. At around 6:35 p.m. IST, only five minutes into his speech, he collapsed. Kalam was confirmed dead of a sudden cardiac arrest at 7:45 p.m. IST.

 

 

12. Pratibha Devisingh Patil: Pratibha Patil (born 19th December 1934) is a politician who served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012. She is the First and only Women President of India. Patil's term as the President of India saw various controversies and is widely considered as lacklustre. She commuted death sentences of 35 petitioners to life, a record. Patil was noted for having spent more money on foreign trips and having taken a more significant number of foreign trips, than any previous president. Sometimes accompanied by as many as 11 members of her family, there had been 12 foreign trips spanning 22 countries by May 2012, when she was away on her 13th trip. Those completed travels had cost Rs 205 crore (Rs 2.05 billion).

 

 

13. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee: Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (11th December 1935 - 31st August 2020) was the 13th President of India from 2012 to 2017. Mukherjee died on 31st August 2020, aged 84, which was confirmed by his son Abhijit Mukherjee via Twitter.

 

 

14. Ram Nath Kovind: Ram Nath Kovind (born 1st October 1945) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current President of India. Kovind took the oath as the 14th President of India on 25th July 2017. He is the first leader from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to occupy the Office of President of India.