José Sarney

Presidency

His succession raised some question because as Neves could not attend the inauguration ceremony on 15 March, several politicians contended at the time that Sarney should not have been inaugurated as vice-president and allowed to become acting president. Some critics argued that in the event of the head of the presidential ticket not being able to assume office, the presidential powers and duties should pass to the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Ulysses Guimarães. As first steps, they agreed to subsidize regional trade with a special currency for the purpose (the Gaucho). The agreement led to the formation of the Mercosur in 1991. He also oversaw constitutional amendments that purged the remaining vestiges of authoritarianism from the 1967/1969 Constitution.

Sarney faced many problems: enormous foreign debt, rampant inflation and corruption as well as the transition to democracy. The inflation worsened however under Sarney's Plano Cruzado. He returned to the Senate after his presidency, this time representing Amapá, and served as President of the Senate from 1995 to 1997, 2003 to 2005, 2009 to 2011, and 2011 to 2013. He retired from politics in 2015 and was the longest-serving member of the Brazilian Congress at the time of his retirement. His retirement was noted by The New York Times as a "decline of a political dynasty" which would cause a political shift in the country. Sarney has also faced multiple allegations of nepotism and corruption in his career. In 2009, the British weekly The Economist called his election as President of the Senate "a victory for semi-feudalism" and "a throwback to an era of semi-feudal politics that still prevails in corners of Brazil and holds the rest of it back." Veja columnist Roberto Pompeu de Toledo deemed him "the perfect oligarch".

Sérgio Machado, former president of Transpetro, said in his plea agreement within the Operation Car Wash that Sarney received R$18.5 million of the bribe money from a Petrobras subsidiary, in the PMDB account during the period in which he directed the company (2003–2015).

Electoral history

Personal life

In 1952, Sarney married Marly Macieira. Their children are Congressman José Sarney Filho, Governor Roseana Sarney, and the businessman Fernando Sarney. Sarney was elected to a chair in the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1980.

In April 2012, Sarney was hospitalized and underwent an angioplasty. In July 2021, he was hospitalized for pleural effusion and had a procedure to remove fluid from his lungs.

In July 2023, Sarney was hospitalized after a fall and was diagnosed with cerebral ischemia.

He released three novels in 2025: O Dono do Mar, Saraminda, and A Duquesa Vale uma Missa.

Awards and decorations Below is a selected list of awards Sarney has received:

National honours

Foreign honours