# Léopold Sédar Senghor - President of Senegal

URL: https://allhistories.com/senegal/rulers/leopold-sedar-senghor-1960
Term: 6 September 1960 – 31 December 1980
Number in the list: 1
Born-Died: 9 October 1906 (Joal) - 20 December 2001 (Verson, France)
Dynasty: Republic of Senegal
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_S%C3%A9dar_Senghor

Léopold Sédar Senghor, poet of Négritude and leader of the Senegalese Progressive Union (UPS), was elected the first President of independent Senegal by parliament on 5 September 1960 and took office on 6 September, after Senegal's withdrawal from the Mali Federation. In December 1962 he defeated an alleged attempted coup by Prime Minister Mamadou Dia, after which the 1963 constitution created a presidential regime. Senghor was re-elected unopposed on 1 December 1963 in the first direct presidential election. During this term the UPS absorbed the other parties and Senegal became a de facto one-party state. Senghor was re-elected as the only candidate on 25 February 1968; the student and union protests of May–June 1968 shook his government. In 1970 he restored the office of prime minister, appointing Abdou Diouf. Senghor was re-elected unopposed on 28 January 1973. In 1976 a constitutional amendment authorised a limited multi-party system, and the UPS became the Socialist Party (PS). Senghor won the first multi-party presidential election on 26 February 1978 against Abdoulaye Wade. He resigned on 31 December 1980, one of the first African presidents to leave power voluntarily, handing over to Prime Minister Abdou Diouf; he was elected to the Académie française in 1983.

## Succession
- Previous in list: [Charles de Gaulle (1959–1960)](https://allhistories.com/senegal/rulers/charles-de-gaulle-1959)
- Next in list: [Abdou Diouf](https://allhistories.com/senegal/rulers/abdou-diouf-1981)

## Timeline events during this reign
- 1960 - [Sembène's God's Bits of Wood](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-sembene-s-god-s-bits-of-wood)
- 1960 - [Transfer of Powers Agreements](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-transfer-of-powers-agreements)
- 1960 - [Independence of the Mali Federation](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-independence-of-the-mali-federation)
- 1960 - [Break-up of the Mali Federation](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-break-up-of-the-mali-federation)
- 1960 - [Constitution of 1960](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-constitution-of-1960)
- 1960 - [Senghor Elected President](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-senghor-elected-president)
- 1960 - [Senegal Joins the United Nations](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1960-senegal-joins-the-united-nations)
- 1962 - [Arrest of Mamadou Dia](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1962-arrest-of-mamadou-dia)
- 1963 - [Presidential Constitution Adopted](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1963-presidential-constitution-adopted)
- 1963 - [Great Mosque of Touba Inaugurated](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1963-great-mosque-of-touba-inaugurated)
- 1963 - [1963 Election and Dakar Violence](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1963-1963-election-and-dakar-violence)
- 1966 - [Sembène's Black Girl Released](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1966-sembene-s-black-girl-released)
- 1966 - [World Festival of Black Arts](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1966-world-festival-of-black-arts)
- 1967 - [Assassination Attempt on Senghor](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1967-assassination-attempt-on-senghor)
- 1968 - [Sembène's Mandabi](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1968-sembene-s-mandabi)
- 1968 - [The Great Sahel Drought](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1968-the-great-sahel-drought)
- 1968 - [May 1968 Protests in Dakar](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1968-may-1968-protests-in-dakar)
- 1968 - [Abdou Ahad Mbacké Becomes Mouride Caliph](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1968-abdou-ahad-mbacke-becomes-mouride-caliph)
- 1970 - [Orchestra Baobab Founded](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1970-orchestra-baobab-founded)
- 1970 - [Prime Minister Post Restored: Abdou Diouf](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1970-prime-minister-post-restored-abdou-diouf)
- 1972 - [Creation of the OMVS](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1972-creation-of-the-omvs)
- 1973 - [Mambéty's Touki Bouki](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1973-mambety-s-touki-bouki)
- 1973 - [Death of Omar Blondin Diop](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1973-death-of-omar-blondin-diop)
- 1974 - [Abdoulaye Wade Founds the PDS](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1974-abdoulaye-wade-founds-the-pds)
- 1975 - [Sembène's Xala](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1975-sembene-s-xala)
- 1975 - [Safi Faye's Kaddu Beykat](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1975-safi-faye-s-kaddu-beykat)
- 1975 - [Golden Age of Modern Laamb](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1975-golden-age-of-modern-laamb)
- 1975 - [Death of Ibrahima Niasse](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1975-death-of-ibrahima-niasse)
- 1976 - [The Three-Party System](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1976-the-three-party-system)
- 1976 - [First Senegalese Cardinal](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1976-first-senegalese-cardinal)
- 1977 - [Sembène's Ceddo Banned](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1977-sembene-s-ceddo-banned)
- 1978 - [1978 Multiparty Elections](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1978-1978-multiparty-elections)
- 1978 - [Gorée Becomes World Heritage](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1978-goree-becomes-world-heritage)
- 1978 - [First Paris–Dakar Rally](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1978-first-paris-dakar-rally)
- 1979 - [Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1979-mariama-ba-s-so-long-a-letter)
- 1980 - [Structural Adjustment Era](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1980-structural-adjustment-era)
- 1980 - [Senghor Resigns](https://allhistories.com/senegal/timeline/1980-senghor-resigns)