António Ramalho Eanes

His Excellency António Ramalho Eanes GColL GCL GColTE CavA
16th President of Portugal
In office 14 July 1976 – 9 March 1986
Prime Minister	José Pinheiro de Azevedo Vasco Almeida e Costa[lower-alpha 1] Mário Soares Alfredo Nobre da Costa Carlos Mota Pinto Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Francisco Sá Carneiro Diogo Freitas do Amaral[lower-alpha 1] Francisco Pinto Balsemão Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Preceded by	Francisco da Costa Gomes
Succeeded by	Mário Soares
President of the Revolution Council
In office 14 July 1976 – 30 September 1982
Preceded by	Francisco da Costa Gomes
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff
In office 14 July 1976 – 16 February 1981
Preceded by	Francisco da Costa Gomes
Succeeded by	Nuno de Melo Egídio
Personal details
Born	António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes 25 January 1935 Louriçal do Campo, Castelo Branco, Portugal
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Democratic Renewal Party (1986–87)
Spouse(s)	Manuela Neto Portugal (m. 1970)
Children	Manuel António Miguel
Alma mater	Portuguese Military Academy
Profession	Army officer
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	Portuguese Army
Years of service	1952–1986
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Colonial War

António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes, GColL GCL GColTE CavA (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ʁɐˈmaʎu iˈɐnɨʃ]; born 25 January 1935) is a Portuguese general and politician who was the 16th President of Portugal from 1976 to 1986.

Background

Born at Alcains, Castelo Branco, he is the son of António dos Santos Eanes, a general contractor, and wife Maria do Rosário Ramalho.

Career

After a long military career in the Portuguese Colonial Wars, he was stationed in Portuguese Angola when the 25 April revolution of 1974 took place. He joined the Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA or Armed Forces Movement) and after returning to Portugal, he was made president of RTP (Portuguese public television). He ordered the military operations against the pro-communist radical faction of the MFA on 25 November 1975, an event known as the 25 de Novembro, ending that year's "hot summer" (Verão quente).

António Ramalho Eanes (left), while president, departs after a state visit to the United States. Secretary of State George Shultz is on the right. (USAF)

In 1976 he was elected President of Portugal. At the end of 1980 he was re-elected, serving until February 1986. After his presidency, he headed the Democratic Renewal Party (Portuguese: Partido Renovador Democrático), resigning in 1987.

He is also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State, as a former elected President of Portugal.

He rejected any suggestion of becoming a Marshal, considering the title unnecessary.

Decorations

National:

• Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty (18/12/2015)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty (25/04/2004)
• Grand Collar of the Order of the Tower and Sword (09/03/1986)
• Knight of the Order of Aviz (19/01/1972)

Family

He married at the Palace of Queluz on 28 October 1970 to Maria Manuela Duarte Neto de Portugal Ramalho Eanes (b. 29 December 1938), who was one of Portugal's most politically active First Ladies, making speeches at Democratic Renewal Party rallies while her husband was president. They had two sons, Manuel António (b. 5 May 1972) and Miguel (b. 1977).

Electoral results

1976 Portuguese presidential election

Summary of the 27 June 1976 Portuguese presidential election results

Candidates		Supporting parties	First round
			Votes	%
	António Ramalho Eanes	Independent	2,967,137	61.59
	Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho	Independent	692,147	14.37
	José Pinheiro de Azevedo	Independent	593,021	14.07
	Octávio Rodrigues Pato	Portuguese Communist Party	365,586	7.59
Total valid			4,817,630	100.00
Blank ballots			43,242	0.89
Invalid ballots			20,253	0.41
Total (turnout 75.47%)			4,881,125
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

1980 Portuguese presidential election

Summary of the 7 December 1980 Portuguese presidential election results

Candidates		Supporting parties	First round
			Votes	%
	António Ramalho Eanes	Independent	3,262,520	56.44
	António Soares Carneiro	Democratic Alliance	2,325,481	40.23
	Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho	Independent	85,896	1.49
	Carlos Galvão de Melo	Independent	48,468	0.84
	António Pires Veloso	Independent	45,132	0.78
	António Aires Rodrigues	Workers Party of Socialist Unity	12,745	0.22
	Carlos Brito^[A]	Portuguese Communist Party	left the race
Total valid			5,780,242	100.00
Blank ballots			44,014	0.75
Invalid ballots			16,076	0.28
Total (turnout 84.39%)			5,840,332
^A He left the race in favor of Ramalho Eanes.
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Notes

1. Acting

External links

• Biography in Portuguese