World leaders in 1959
Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 1959, 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 1959 →
Major powers in 1959
United StatesUnited States history
- President
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
United KingdomUnited Kingdom history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Harold Macmillan
Soviet UnionRussia history
- General Secretary
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
- Kliment Voroshilov
- Chairman of the Council of Ministers
- Nikita Khrushchev
People's Republic of ChinaChina history
- Chairman; Paramount Leader
- Mao Zedong
- Chairman
- Mao Zedong
- President
- Liu Shaoqi
- Premier
- Zhou Enlai
FranceFrance history
- President
- Charles de Gaulle
- Prime minister
- Michel Debré
East GermanyGermany history
- President
- Wilhelm Pieck
- Chairman
- Otto Grotewohl
West GermanyGermany history
- President
- Theodor Heuss, then Heinrich Lübke
- Chancellor
- Konrad Adenauer
JapanJapan history
- Emperor
- Hirohito
Republic of IndiaIndia history
- President
- Rajendra Prasad
- Prime minister
- Jawaharlal Nehru
Africa
Central African Republic
- Prime minister
- David Dacko
Dominion of GhanaGhana history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Kwame Nkrumah
Ethiopian EmpireEthiopia history
- I, Emperor
- Haile Selassie
GabonGabon history
- Prime minister
- Léon M'ba
Kingdom of LibyaLibya history
- King
- Idris
- Prime minister
- Abdul Majid Kubar
Kingdom of RwandaRwanda history
- King
- Mutara III Rudahigwa, then Kigeli V Ndahindurwa
LiberiaLiberia history
- President
- William Tubman
Malagasy RepublicMadagascar history
- President
- Philibert Tsiranana
Republic of GuineaGuinea history
- President
- Ahmed Sékou Touré
Republic of the Sudan (1956–1969)Sudan history
- President
- Ibrahim Abboud
- Prime minister
- Ibrahim Abboud
Republic of TunisiaTunisia history
- President
- Habib Bourguiba
Sultanate of ZanzibarTanzania history
- Sultan
- Khalifa II
Sultanate/ Kingdom of MoroccoMorocco history
- King
- Mohammed V
- Prime minister
- Abdallah Ibrahim
Union of South AfricaSouth Africa history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Hendrik Verwoerd
United Arab RepublicEgypt history
- President and Prime minister
- Gamal Abdel Nasser
Americas
ArgentinaArgentina history
- President
- Arturo Frondizi
BoliviaBolivia history
- President
- Hernán Siles Zuazo
CanadaCanada history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- John Diefenbaker
ColombiaColombia history
- President
- Alberto Lleras Camargo
Duvalier dynasty, HaitiHaiti history
- President
- François Duvalier
EcuadorEcuador history
- President
- Camilo Ponce Enríquez
El Stronato: ParaguayParaguay history
- President
- Alfredo Stroessner
GuatemalaGuatemala history
- President
- Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes
HondurasHonduras history
- President
- Ramón Villeda Morales
MexicoMexico history
- President
- Adolfo López Mateos
NicaraguaNicaragua history
- President
- Luis Somoza Debayle
Presidential Republic (1925–1973) of ChileChile history
- President
- Jorge Alessandri
Republic of Costa RicaCosta Rica history
- President
- Mario Echandi Jiménez
Republic of CubaCuba history
- President
- Manuel Urrutia Lleó, then Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
- Prime minister
- Fidel Castro
Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)Cuba history
- President
- Fulgencio Batista
- Interim President
- Anselmo Alliegro y Milá, then Carlos Manuel Piedra
- Prime minister
- Gonzalo Güell
Republic of PeruPeru history
- Constitutional President
- Manuel Prado y Ugarteche
- Prime Minister
- Luis Gallo Porras, then Pedro Beltrán Espantoso
Republic of VenezuelaVenezuela history
- President
- Rómulo Betancourt
Second Brazilian RepublicBrazil history
- President
- Juscelino Kubitschek
Suriname (Kingdom of the Netherlands)Suriname history
- Prime minister
- Severinus Desiré Emanuels
United StatesUnited States history
- President
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
UruguayUruguay history
- President (National Council of Government)
- Carlos Fischer, then Martín Echegoyen
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
- S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, then Wijeyananda Dahanayake
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
Iraqi Republic (1958–1968)Iraq history
- President
- Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i
- Prime minister
- Abd al-Karim Qasim
Islamic Republic of PakistanPakistan history
- President
- Ayub Khan
IsraelIsrael history
- President
- Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
- Prime minister
- David Ben-Gurion
JapanJapan history
- Emperor
- Hirohito
Kingdom of AfghanistanAfghanistan history
- Prime minister
- Mohammed Daoud Khan
Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)Cambodia history
Kingdom of JordanJordan history
- King
- Hussein
- Prime minister
- Hazza' al-Majali
Kingdom of LaosLaos history
- King
- Sisavang Vong, then Sisavang Vatthana
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
- Fuad Chehab
- Prime minister
- Rashid Karami
Liberal democracy period in IndonesiaIndonesia history
- President
- Sukarno
- Prime minister
- Djuanda Kartawidjaja
MalaysiaMalaysia history
- Yang di-Pertuan Agong
- Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan
- Prime minister
- Tunku Abdul Rahman
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
- President
- Liu Shaoqi
- Premier
- Zhou Enlai
PhilippinesPhilippines history
- President
- Carlos P. Garcia
Protectorate of Brunei / Nation of BruneiBrunei history
- Sultan
- Omar Ali Saifuddien III
QatarQatar history
Republic of China: TaiwanTaiwan history
- President
- Chiang Kai-shek
- Premier
- Chen Cheng
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
- Prime minister
- Adnan Menderes
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) (1955–1975)Vietnam history
- President
- Ngo Dinh Diem
Sheikhdom of KuwaitKuwait history
- Sheikh
- Abdullah III
SingaporeSingapore history
- Prime minister
- Lee Kuan Yew
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
- Sarit Thanarat
Umm Al QuwainUnited Arab Emirates history
Union of Burma
United Arab Republic (1958–1961)Syria history
- Prime minister
- Nur al-Din Kahala
Europe
Andorra
- Episcopal Co-Prince
- Ramon Iglesias i Navarri
- French Co-Prince
- René Coty, then Charles de Gaulle
AustriaAustria history
- President
- Adolf Schärf
- Chancellor
- Julius Raab
BelgiumBelgium history
- King
- Baudouin
- Prime minister
- Gaston Eyskens
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
- General Secretary
- Antonín Novotný
- President
- Antonín Novotný
- 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
- Urho Kekkonen
- Prime minister
- Karl-August Fagerholm, then V. J. Sukselainen
France: Fifth RepublicFrance history
- President
- Charles de Gaulle
- Prime minister
- Michel Debré
Francoist SpainSpain history
- Caudillo
- Francisco Franco
- Prime minister
- Francisco Franco
Hungarian People's RepublicHungary history
- Chairman
- István Dobi
- Prime minister
- Ferenc Münnich
IcelandIceland history
- President
- Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
- Prime minister
- Emil Jónsson, then Ólafur Thors
ItalyItaly history
- President
- Giovanni Gronchi
- Prime minister
- Amintore Fanfani, then 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
- Louis Beel, then Jan de Quay
Liechtenstein
- Prince
- Franz Josef II
- Prime minister
- Alexander Frick
LuxembourgLuxembourg history
- Grand Duchess
- Charlotte
- Prime minister
- Pierre Frieden, then Pierre Werner
Monaco
- Prince
- Rainier III
- Minister of state
- Henry Soum, then Émile Pelletier
NorwayNorway history
- King
- Olav V
- Prime minister
- Einar Gerhardsen
People's Republic of BulgariaBulgaria history
- Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly
- Dimitar Ganev
- Prime minister
- 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, then Éamon de Valera
- Taoiseach
- Éamon de Valera, then Seán Lemass
Second Portuguese RepublicPortugal history
- President
- Américo Thomaz
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
- Nikita Khrushchev
SwedenSweden history
- King
- Gustaf VI Adolf
- Prime minister
- Tage Erlander
SwitzerlandSwitzerland history
- President of the Confederation
- Paul Chaudet
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandUnited Kingdom history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Harold Macmillan
Vatican City
- Sovereign
- John XXIII
West GermanyGermany history
- President
- Theodor Heuss, then Heinrich Lübke
- 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
New ZealandNew Zealand history
- Queen
- Elizabeth II
- Prime minister
- Walter Nash
Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsUnited States history
- High Commissioner
- Delmas H. Nucker
Wallis and Futuna
Western Samoa/ Independent State of Samoa
- Prime Minister
- Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II