Biography of Tomás, Américo - Archontology
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Tomás, Américo

Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás

b. 19 Nov 1894, Lisbon
d. 18 Sep 1987, Cascais

Title: Presidente da República (President of the Republic)
Term: 9 Aug 1958 - 9 Aug 1965
Chronology: 27 Jun 1958, election to the office of President of the Republic is declared upon counting popular votes (cast 8 Jun 1958), session of the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (Supreme Court of Justice) [1]
  9 Aug 1958,  took an oath of office as President of the Republic, session of the Assembleia Nacional (National Assembly), Palácio da Assembleia Nacional (São Bento), Lisbon [2]
  9 Aug 1965, expiration of term
Term: 9 Aug 1965 - 9 Aug 1972
Chronology: 25 Jul 1965, elected by electoral college [3]
  9 Aug 1965,  took an oath of office as President of the Republic, session of the Assembleia Nacional (National Assembly), Palácio da Assembleia Nacional (São Bento), Lisbon [4]
  9 Aug 1972, expiration of term
Term: 9 Aug 1972 - 25 Apr 1974
Chronology: 25 Jul 1972, elected by electoral college [5]
  9 Aug 1972,  took an oath of office as President of the Republic, session of the Assembleia Nacional (National Assembly), Palácio da Assembleia Nacional (São Bento), Lisbon [6]
  25 Apr 1974, deprived of functions, law No. 1/74 (lei n.° 1/74) promulgated by the Junta de Salvação National (Junta of National Salvation) [7]
Biography:
Educated at Liceu do Carmo (1905-1906), Liceu da Lapa (1906-1911), and Liceu Pedro Nunes (1911-1912); attended the Faculty of Sciences in Lisbon (1912-1914), but left before graduation and entered the Navy Academy (1914-1916); after the completion of studies, was promoted to guarda-marinha (1917); as navy officer, participated in World War I and was promoted to second lieutenant (1918); joined the hydrographic service of the Portuguese navy ministry (1919-1936), where he pursued a successful career, including promotions to first lieutenant (1922) and captain-lieutenant (1931); served on several committees for hydrography and navigation; after promotion to capitão-de-fragata (1939), was appointed (1940) president of the National Board of Merchant Navy; promoted to capitão-de-mar-e-guerra (1941); appointed navy minister (6 Sep 1944 - 10 May 1958); rear admiral (1951); was selected by the ruling National Union (União Nacional) to contest the presidential election of 1958; elected President of the Republic (1958); distanced from active political involvement and proved himself close ally of António de Oliveira Salazar; refused to support the coup of Botelho Moniz (11 Apr 1961), aimed at toppling the Salazar regime; reelected to the office (1965) by electoral college, which replaced popular vote in 1959; was engaged in selection of successor to Salazar, Marcelo Caetano (1968); promoted to admiral (1970); reelected as President of the Republic (1972); deposed in the course of the Carnation Revolution (1974) and sent to exile; lived in Brazil (1974-1978); returned to Portugal in July 1978.
Biographical sources: "Os Presidentes da República Portuguesa", coord. by António Costa Pinto and Maria Inácia Rezola (Lisboa: Temas & Debates, 2001) ; "Os presidentes e os governos da república no século XX", by Alberto Laplaine Guimarães... [et al.] (Lisboa: Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda, 2000)
Elections:

Candidate Popular vote (8 Jun 1958) *
Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás 758,998
Humberto da Silva Delgado 236,528
Arlindo Augusto Pires Vicente none
blank/invalid 5,401

Candidate Vote (25 Jul 1965)
Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás 556
invalid 13
absent electors 16
total number of electors 585

Candidate Vote (25 Jul 1972)
Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás 616
invalid 29
absent electors 24
total number of electors 669
* The official results approved by the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (Supreme Court of Justice) excluded the votes from the province of Cabo Verde, being unavailable at the time of counting and considered not sufficient to overcome the existing difference.
Source of electoral results: Boletim Geral do Ultramar, vol. XXXIV, No. 396, Jun 1958, pp. 3-6; Diário das Sessões, 8.° suplemento ao n.° 204, 25 de Julho de 1965; Diário das Sessões, 10.° suplemento ao n.° 193, 26 de Julho de 1972.

[1] Diário das Sessões, n.° 45, 10 de Agosto de 1958, p. 991.
[2] Diário das Sessões, 8.° suplemento ao n.° 204, 25 de Julho de 1965.
[3] Diário das Sessões, n.° 205, 10 de Agosto de 1965, p. 4898.
[4] Diário das Sessões, 10.° suplemento ao n.° 193, 25 de Julho de 1972.
[5] Diário das Sessões, n.° 194, 10 de Agosto de 1972, p. 3866.
[6] Diário do Governo, I Série, No. 97, 25 Apr 1974, Supplement.