President of Singapore
The eighth and current president, Halimah Yacob, took office on 14 September 2017, becoming the first president elected as she was the sole eligible candidate under the new reform terms which took effect earlier that year. She is also the first female President of Singapore.
President of Singapore
The office of president was created in 1965 after Singapore became a republic upon its secession from the Federation of Malaysia that year. It replaced the office of "Yang di-Pertuan Negara", which had been created when Singapore attained self-government in 1959. The last "Yang di-Pertuan Negara", Yusof Ishak, became the first president. After his death he was replaced by Benjamin Sheares, who served until his death in 1981, when he was succeeded by Chengara Veetil Devan Nair. Owing to personal problems, Nair stepped down in 1985 and was replaced by Wee Kim Wee, who served as president until 1993.