President of Ukraine - History

History

2nd President Volodymyr Vynnychenko (1918-19). Third President Symon Petliura (1919-1926).

Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the highest governing body was the General Secretariat headed by its chairman. With the proclamation of the last universal of the UPR dated January 25, 1918 due to a military aggression, the Central Rada (council) of the UPR proclaimed its independence from the Russia. On April 29, 1918, the Rada elected Mykhailo Hrushevskyi as the first President of the Central Rada of the Ukrainian People's Republic, in effect making him the de facto leader of the republic. Although a rather widespread misconception, the state leadership position title varied and none of them had an official "presidential" title.

On April 29, 1918 the Central Rada was arrested and liquidated during a coup d'état initiated by the local German administration to install Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky who barely spoke a word of the Ukrainian language. In November of the same year the Directorate government of the UPR was established as the opposition movement to the Skoropadsky's regime. The Ukrainian People's Republic was soon re-established in December 1918 with Volodymyr Vynnychenko as the Directorate's chairman, serving as the republic's de facto second "President" from December 19, 1918 to February 10, 1919. Although really the Directorate was the temporary governing body until the new Ukrainian Constituent Assembly would elect its president. Symon Petliura assumed the representation of the state after Vynnychenko's resignation on February 11, 1919 and until Petlyura's assassination in Paris on May 25, 1926.

After the Soviet invasion of Ukraine in 1920 and the control of the Ukrainian territory under pro-Soviet forces with the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, the Ukrainian People's Republic was forced into exile. Upon the assassination of Petliura by the Soviets, the control over the state affairs were transferred to the former Prime Minister Andriy Livytskyi who in 1948 created the office of the President of Ukraine. Livytskyi served as the first President (in exile) until January 1954. Stepan Vytvytskyi served after Livytskyi from January 1954 until his death on October 9, 1965. Following Vytvytskyi's death, Ivan Bahrianyi temporarily carried out the presidential authority until the third President-in-exile Mykola Livytskyi (son of the first President-in-exile) was sworn into office. Livytskyi served from 1967 until his death in December 1989.

Mykola Plaviuk was the last President-in-exile (and the fourth), serving from December 1989 until his resignation on August 22, 1992 when he ceremonially gave in his presidential authority and state symbols to the newly-elected Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk at his inauguration ceremony. In his declaration, it is stated that the current Ukrainian state is the legal successor following the state traditions of the Ukrainian People's Republic, establishing the continuity of the republic.

The modern Ukrainian presidency was established on July 5, 1991 by the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which formed the office of "President of the Ukrainian SSR" (Ukrainian: Президент Української РСР). During the transitional period until the presidential elections, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (then held by Leonid Kravchuk) was empowered with a presidential authority. With the proclamation of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union, the office's official title was changed to "President of Ukraine" on August 24. In the current Constitution, the Ukrainian presidency is defined in Chapter V, Articles 102-112.