It is also considered one of the key institutions that form the "Historic Constitution of Chile," and is crucial to the country's political stability.

[3] Under the current Constitution, adopted in 1980, the president serves a four-year term and is not eligible for immediate re-election.

[4][5] Gabriel Boric is the current president, having won the 2021 Chilean general election and taken office on 11 March 2022.

In addition, the president must have the right to vote as a fully Chilean citizen, which includes being at least 18 years of age, not having been sentenced to a severe punishment, not having lost the right to vote due to insanity, not having been tried or condemned for a serious crime or terrorist conduct, nor condemned by the Constitutional Court under Article 8 of the Chilean Constitution.

The election shall be held the third Sunday of November of the year immediately before the end of the administration of the president then holding office.

Some transitory disposals, fixed during the military dictatorship of the general Augusto Pinochet, allowed the exceptional possibility of his reelection in the 1988 plebiscite.

However, in 4 March 1994 (a week before Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle took office) the presidential period was reduced to a six-year term, without an immediate reelection.

The incumbent president, in accordance with the constitution, completes their corresponding term on 11 March of the immediate year after the election.

It dates back to the medals of the Legion of Merit and remained intact until the coup d'état of 1973, when it disappeared during the bombing of the La Moneda palace.

During the military regime of Augusto Pinochet a replica of the pioche was created, based on photographs of the original.

The president of Chile traditionally used an elegant horse drawn "Bandeja" Carriage imported from France by President José Manuel Balmaceda for ceremonial events until president Salvador Allende, not wanting to project the image of royalty that carriages now confer, used the black 1966 Ford Galaxie XL convertible acquired in 1968 for Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Chile as his official vehicle with a normally issued license plate (EL-2801).