Tadić was elected president of DS a year after the assassination of Zoran Đinđić after previously serving as a member of its provisional leadership.

[2] The period during his second mandate was also characterised by the challenges of the Kosovo declaration of independence and the global financial crisis, leading to low rates of economic growth.

[12] His parents frequently relocated between various cities and had moved to Sarajevo from Paris, where they pursued their doctoral studies, only a few days prior to his birth.

[13][14] Tadić finished Pera Popović Aga (today Mika Petrović Alas)[15] elementary school and matriculated at the First Belgrade Gymnasium in Dorćol.

On 6 December 2004, Boris Tadić made an apology in Bosnia and Herzegovina to all those who suffered crimes committed in the name of the Serbian people.

[27] On 6 September 2007, Tadić was a signatory of the agreement that led to the formation of the Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Republika Srpska, together with Milorad Dodik and Vojislav Koštunica.

[34] The re-election campaign was led under the slogan ”For a strong and stable Serbia“ (За Јаку и Стабилну Србију) in the first round and "Let's win Europe together!"

[41] Russia backed Serbia's position and President Vladimir Putin said that any support for Kosovo's unilateral declaration is immoral and illegal.

[42] On 21 February Tadić met President of Romania Traian Băsescu in Bucharest where he thanked him for Romanian support and stated that "Serbia will not give up its future in Europe".

He said that former Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte had said that witnesses in the case against Haradinaj had been intimidated and even murdered to prevent them testifying to his crimes.

The letter states that Serbia views those forces as an illegal paramilitary organisation that constitutes a threat to the country's security and a danger to peace and stability in the Western Balkans.

[54][55] Tadić said that he was ready, authorised as per Vienna Convention,[56] to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union if it were offered on 28 April, but not at the price of recognising Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence.

[58] While, on 1 May, Koštunica said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was right when he said that the SAA should have been signed, he nonetheless vowed to annul the agreement after the parliamentary elections, calling it "not in the service of Serbia's territorial integrity.

"[59][60] On 27 June 2008, Tadić named Mirko Cvetković for the new Prime Minister, following the victory of his party coalition in parliamentary election that took place in May.

[62][63] Tadić invoked his constitutional powers of Commander-in-Chief of the Military of Serbia and dismissed the Chief of the General Staff Zdravko Ponoš on 30 December 2008.

The second proposed amendment would change the administrative division of Serbia by dividing it into more autonomous regions in order to achieve a more balanced development.

This change would lead to Serbia's being divided into seven regions instead of the current asymmetrical division which includes two autonomous provinces but where the majority of the territory has no special autonomy.

On 5 April 2012, a day after announcing his decision, Tadić submitted his resignation to the speaker of parliament, Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, who then took over as acting president.

[81] Amid controversy regarding the legitimacy of the third mandate and the legality of certain decisions,[82] incumbent Tadić lost the presidential elections to his opponent, Tomislav Nikolić from the Serbian Progressive Party.

Tadić was criticised both inside and outside the party for the manoeuvre of calling early presidential elections without a clear goal, and entering them with over-confidence.

On 7 June 2008 at an assembly of the Main Board of the Democratic Party, Tadić compared the DS and the SPS saying that both grieved over the loss of their presidents, Đinđić and Milošević.

[90][91] On 18 October 2008 Tadić and Ivica Dačić, President of the Socialist Party of Serbia, signed a Declaration of Political Reconciliation drafted in July,[92] agreeing on further EU integration and negotiations with Kosovo based on UN Resolution 1244.

[93] The Declaration was again viewed as exonerating Milošević's regime and the G17 Plus, the Serbian Renewal Movement and League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina refused to sign it despite supporting the government.

[94][95] It was also criticised by the right-wing Dveri and the Serbian Radical Party who called the declaration a reconciliation of the two wings of the League of Communists who split at the 8th Session.

[75][76] In September 2011 the Anti-Corruption Council, led by Verica Barać and with the support of Commissioner for Information of Public Importance Rodoljub Šabić, Ombudsman Saša Janković, and presidents of the two main journalism associations Ljiljana Smajlović and Vukašin Obradović, published a report detailing the state of the freedom of the press in Serbia from January 2008 to June 2010.

[113] Tadić's maternal grandfather was Strahinja Kićanović, a wealthy tradesman and landowner who unsuccessfully ran twice for the office of member of parliament.

[115] Although this is today a well-known fact stated by Tadić on several occasions, Yugoslav communist authorities falsely listed Strahinja Kićanović as being killed simultaneously both at Jadovno and Jasenovac.

The award recognises four people or groups for their commitment to innovation, renewal, and a pioneering spirit through political, economic, and cultural activities.

The other three winners were Wikipedia, represented by Jimmy Wales; Eckart Höfling, Franciscan and director; and Peter Gabriel, musician and human rights activist.

[122] In 2011, Tadić won the North-South Prize awarded by the Council of Europe and distinguishing his deep commitment and actions for the promotion and protection of human rights, defence of pluralist democracy, and the strengthening partnership of the north–south solidarity.