Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera (14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an Irish statesman. He served as the president of Ireland from 1959 to 1973, and three terms as head of government. He had a leading role in introducing the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, and was a dominant figure in Irish political circles from the early 1930s to the late 1960s, when he served terms as both the head of government and head of state.

Born in New York City, de Valera was a Commandant of the Irish Volunteers (3rd Battalion) at Boland's Mill during the Easter Rising in 1916. He was arrested and sentenced to death, but released for a variety of reasons, including his American citizenship and the public response to the British execution of leaders of the Rising. He returned to Ireland after being jailed in England and became one of the leading political figures of the War of Independence. After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, de Valera served as the political leader of Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin until 1926, when he, along with many supporters, left the party to set up Fianna Fáil, a new political party – of which he became the founding leader – which abandoned the policy of abstentionism from Dáil Éireann in favour of working to republicanise the Irish Free State from within.

De Valera went on to be at the forefront of Irish politics until the turn of the 1960s. He took over as president of the Executive Council from W. T. Cosgrave in 1932 and later, with the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, became Taoiseach. With a total of 21 years in office, he is the longest-serving Irish head of government by total days served in the post. He resigned in 1959 upon his election as President of Ireland. By then, he had led Fianna Fáil for 33 years and he, along with older founding members, began to take a less prominent role relative to newer ministers such as Jack Lynch, Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney. De Valera served as the head of state from 1959 to 1973, two full terms in office.