World leaders in 1956
Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 1956, in the order they held them. Names are from Wikipedia’s list of state leaders and appear only where the person’s Wikidata record agrees on the post and the years. What happened in 1956 →
Major powers in 1956
United StatesUnited States history
- President
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
United KingdomUnited Kingdom history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Anthony Eden
Soviet UnionRussia history
- General Secretary
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
- Kliment Voroshilov
- Chairman of the Council of Ministers
- Nikolai Bulganin
People's Republic of ChinaChina history
- Chairman; Paramount Leader
- Mao Zedong
- Chairman
- Mao Zedong
- Premier
- Zhou Enlai
French Fourth RepublicFrance history
- President
- René Coty
- Prime minister
- Edgar Faure, then Guy Mollet
East GermanyGermany history
- President
- Wilhelm Pieck
- Chairman
- Otto Grotewohl
West GermanyGermany history
- President
- Theodor Heuss
- Chancellor
- Konrad Adenauer
JapanJapan history
- Emperor
- Hirohito
- Prime minister
- Tanzan Ishibashi
Republic of IndiaIndia history
- President
- Rajendra Prasad
- Prime minister
- Jawaharlal Nehru
Africa
Beylik of TunisTunisia history
Ethiopian EmpireEthiopia history
- I, Emperor
- Haile Selassie
Kingdom of LibyaLibya history
- King
- Idris
- Prime minister
- Mustafa Ben Halim
Kingdom of RwandaRwanda history
Kingdom of TunisiaTunisia history
- Prime minister
- Tahar Ben Ammar, then Habib Bourguiba
LiberiaLiberia history
- President
- William Tubman
Republic of Egypt (1953–1958)Egypt history
- President
- Gamal Abdel Nasser
- Prime minister, government in rebellion
- Gamal Abdel Nasser
Sultanate of ZanzibarTanzania history
- Sultan
- Khalifa II
Sultanate/ Kingdom of MoroccoMorocco history
- Sultan
- Mohammed V
- Prime minister
- Mbarek Bekkay
Union of South AfricaSouth Africa history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom
Americas
ArgentinaArgentina history
- de facto President
- Pedro Eugenio Aramburu
BoliviaBolivia history
- President
- Víctor Paz Estenssoro, then Hernán Siles Zuazo
CanadaCanada history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Louis St. Laurent
ColombiaColombia history
- President
- Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
EcuadorEcuador history
- President
- Camilo Ponce Enríquez
El Stronato: ParaguayParaguay history
- President
- Alfredo Stroessner
GuatemalaGuatemala history
- President
- Carlos Castillo Armas
HondurasHonduras history
- President
- Julio Lozano Díaz
MexicoMexico history
- President
- Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
NicaraguaNicaragua history
- President
- Anastasio Somoza García, then Luis Somoza Debayle
PanamaPanama history
- President
- Ricardo Arias
Presidential Republic (1925–1973) of ChileChile history
- President
- Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Republic of Costa RicaCosta Rica history
- President
- José Figueres Ferrer
Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)Cuba history
- President
- Fulgencio Batista
- Prime minister
- Jorge García Montes
Republic of PeruPeru history
- Constitutional President
- Manuel A. Odría, then Manuel Prado y Ugarteche
- Prime Minister
- Roque Augusto Saldías Maninat, then Manuel Cisneros Sánchez
Republic of VenezuelaVenezuela history
- President
- Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Second Brazilian RepublicBrazil history
- President
- Nereu Ramos, then Juscelino Kubitschek
Second Haitian RepublicHaiti history
- President
- Paul Magloire
- Provisional President
- Joseph Nemours Pierre-Louis
Suriname (Kingdom of the Netherlands)Suriname history
- Prime minister
- Johan Ferrier
United StatesUnited States history
- President
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
UruguayUruguay history
- President (National Council of Government)
- Alberto Fermín Zubiría
Asia
BhutanBhutan history
- Druk Gyalpo
- Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
- Prime minister
- Jigme Palden Dorji
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) (1945–1976)Vietnam history
- President
- Ho Chi Minh
- Prime minister
- Phạm Văn Đồng
Dominion of CeylonSri Lanka history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- John Kotelawala, then S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Dominion of PakistanPakistan history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Emirate of Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates history
Emirate of AjmanUnited Arab Emirates history
Emirate of DubaiUnited Arab Emirates history
Emirate of FujairahUnited Arab Emirates history
Emirate of Ras Al KhaimahUnited Arab Emirates history
Emirate of SharjahUnited Arab Emirates history
Hakims of Bahrain/ State of BahrainBahrain history
Imperial State of IranIran history
Islamic Republic of PakistanPakistan history
- President
- Iskander Mirza
- Prime minister
- Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
IsraelIsrael history
- President
- Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
- Prime minister
- David Ben-Gurion
JapanJapan history
- Emperor
- Hirohito
- Prime minister
- Tanzan Ishibashi
Kingdom of AfghanistanAfghanistan history
- Prime minister
- Mohammed Daoud Khan
Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)Cambodia history
- Prime minister
- Oum Chheang Sun, then Khim Tit, then Sam Yun
Kingdom of IraqIraq history
- King
- Faisal II
- Prime minister
- Nuri al-Said
Kingdom of JordanJordan history
- King
- Hussein
- Acting Prime minister
- Ibrahim Hashem
- Prime minister
- Samir al-Rifai, then Ibrahim Hashem, then Sulayman al-Nabulsi
Kingdom of LaosLaos history
- King
- Sisavang Vong
- Prime minister
- Souvanna Phouma
Kingdom of NepalNepal history
- King
- Mahendra
Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia history
- King
- Saud
Lao People's Democratic RepublicLaos history
- General Secretary
- Kaysone Phomvihane
LebanonLebanon history
- President
- Camille Chamoun
- Prime minister
- Rashid Karami, then Abdallah El-Yafi
Liberal democracy period in IndonesiaIndonesia history
- President
- Sukarno
- Prime minister
- Burhanuddin Harahap, then Ali Sastroamidjojo
Mongolian People's Republic
- Prime minister
- Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal
North KoreaNorth Korea history
- Chairman
- Kim Il Sung
- Premier
- Kim Il Sung
North Yemen: Mutawakkilite Kingdom of YemenYemen history
- King
- Ahmad bin Yahya
People's Republic of ChinaChina history
- Chairman; Paramount Leader
- Mao Zedong
- Chairman
- Mao Zedong
- Premier
- Zhou Enlai
PhilippinesPhilippines history
- President
- Ramon Magsaysay
Protectorate of Brunei / Nation of BruneiBrunei history
- Sultan
- Omar Ali Saifuddien III
QatarQatar history
Republic of China: TaiwanTaiwan history
- President
- Chiang Kai-shek
- Premier
- Yu Hung-chun
Republic of IndiaIndia history
- President
- Rajendra Prasad
- Prime minister
- Jawaharlal Nehru
Republic of South MalukuIndonesia history
- President
- Chris Soumokil
Republic of TurkeyTurkey history
- President
- Celâl Bayar
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) (1955–1975)Vietnam history
- President
- Ngo Dinh Diem
Second Syrian RepublicSyria history
- President
- Shukri al-Quwatli
- Prime minister
- Sabri al-Asali
Sheikhdom of KuwaitKuwait history
- Sheikh
- Abdullah III
South KoreaSouth Korea history
- President
- Syngman Rhee
Sultanate of Muscat and OmanOman history
- Sultan
- Said III
Sultanate of the Maldive Islands: Huraa Dynasty
- Sultan
- Muhammad Fareed Didi
ThailandThailand history
- Prime minister
- Plaek Phibunsongkhram
Umm Al QuwainUnited Arab Emirates history
Union of Burma
- President
- Ba U
Europe
Andorra
- Episcopal Co-Prince
- Ramon Iglesias i Navarri
- French Co-Prince
- René Coty
AustriaAustria history
- President
- Theodor Körner
- Chancellor
- Julius Raab
BelgiumBelgium history
- King
- Baudouin
- Prime minister
- Achille Van Acker
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
- General Secretary
- Antonín Novotný
- President
- Antonín Zápotocký
- Prime minister
- Viliam Široký
DenmarkDenmark history
- King
- Frederik IX
- Prime minister
- H. C. Hansen
East GermanyGermany history
- President
- Wilhelm Pieck
- Chairman
- Otto Grotewohl
FinlandFinland history
- President
- Juho Kusti Paasikivi, then Urho Kekkonen
- Prime minister
- Urho Kekkonen, then Karl-August Fagerholm
Francoist SpainSpain history
- Caudillo
- Francisco Franco
- Prime minister
- Francisco Franco
French Fourth RepublicFrance history
- President
- René Coty
- Prime minister
- Edgar Faure, then Guy Mollet
Hungarian People's RepublicHungary history
- General Secretary
- János Kádár
- Chairman
- István Dobi
- Prime minister
- András Hegedüs, then Imre Nagy, then János Kádár
IcelandIceland history
- President
- Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
- Prime minister
- Ólafur Thors, then Hermann Jónasson
ItalyItaly history
- President
- Giovanni Gronchi
- Prime minister
- Antonio Segni
Kingdom of Greece: 4th of August RegimeGreece history
- King
- Paul
- Prime minister
- Konstantinos Karamanlis
Kingdom of the NetherlandsNetherlands history
- Queen
- Juliana
- Prime minister
- Willem Drees
Liechtenstein
- Prince
- Franz Josef II
- Prime minister
- Alexander Frick
LuxembourgLuxembourg history
- Grand Duchess
- Charlotte
- Prime minister
- Joseph Bech
Monaco
- Prince
- Rainier III
- Minister of state
- Henry Soum
NorwayNorway history
- King
- Haakon VII
- Prime minister
- Einar Gerhardsen
People's Republic of BulgariaBulgaria history
- Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly
- Georgi Damyanov
- Prime minister
- Vulko Chervenkov, then Anton Yugov
People's Socialist Republic of AlbaniaAlbania history
- First Secretary
- Enver Hoxha
- Chairman
- Haxhi Lleshi
- Prime minister
- Mehmet Shehu
Polish People's RepublicPoland history
- Chairman
- Aleksander Zawadzki
- Prime minister
- Józef Cyrankiewicz
Republic of IrelandIreland history
- President
- Seán T. O'Kelly
- Taoiseach
- John A. Costello
San Marino
- Captains Regent
- Giuseppe Maiani
Second Portuguese RepublicPortugal history
- President
- Francisco Craveiro Lopes
Socialist Republic of RomaniaRomania history
- General Secretary
- Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
- Prime minister
- Chivu Stoica
Soviet UnionRussia history
- General Secretary
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
- Kliment Voroshilov
- Chairman of the Council of Ministers
- Nikolai Bulganin
SwedenSweden history
- King
- Gustaf VI Adolf
- Prime minister
- Tage Erlander
SwitzerlandSwitzerland history
- President of the Confederation
- Markus Feldmann
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandUnited Kingdom history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Anthony Eden
Vatican City
- Sovereign
- Pius XII
West GermanyGermany history
- President
- Theodor Heuss
- Chancellor
- Konrad Adenauer
Yugoslavia: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- General Secretary
- Josip Broz Tito
- President
- Josip Broz Tito
- Prime minister
- Josip Broz Tito
Oceania
AustraliaAustralia history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Sir Robert Menzies
Kingdom of Tonga (1900–70)Tonga history
- King
- Sālote Tupou III
- Prime minister
- Tupoutoʻa-Tungi
Kings of Uvea (Wallis)
- King (née Tautuu), King (fem.)
- Aloisia Brial
New ZealandNew Zealand history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Sidney Holland
Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsUnited States history
- Acting High Commissioner
- Delmas H. Nucker