[2] In foreign policy, the policy of isolation was continued during Relander's term, although on the other hand the president did valuable work in representing Finland abroad and establishing relations at the head of state level with neighboring states, such as the other Nordic countries.

It was further guaranteed by the fact that some of the party's key figures, such as Santeri Alkio and Kyösti Kallio, declined to stand.

Relander was elected in the third ballot of the electoral college, defeating the National Progressive Party candidate Risto Ryti by 172 votes to 109.

He was elected largely due to the fact that he attracted less opposition than Risto Ryti[citation needed].

According to some contemporaries, at least the Swedish People's Party electors more eagerly voted for Relander because his wife happened to be a Finland Swede.

Even Relander's continual state visits and trips drew criticism, leading to him gaining the nickname of Reissu-Lasse (Travelling Lasse).

He allowed the Social Democrats to form a minority government (1926–1927), appointed Finland's first female cabinet minister, Miina Sillanpää (as Assistant Minister of Social Welfare), dissolved Parliament twice (in 1929 over a dispute on the civil servants' salaries and in 1930 to have the Parliament outlaw the Communist Party, which required a constitutional amendment and thus a two-thirds majority), and generally supported the far-right Lapua Movement until it started to kidnap various political opponents.

In Relander's opinion, Kallio did not talk straight to him and schemed behind his back to weaken his presidency and help his political opponents.

In Kallio's opinion, Relander was a rather inexperienced politician who had high ideals but not enough common sense to implement them.

[4][5][6][9] As it is, the dispute between Relander and Kallio was due to personal chemistry and political line differences, as Relander, for example, was more positive about right-wing radicalism, a nationalist movement like the Lapua Movement, which marked his presidency so badly that his own party representatives were not worth defending.

[2] After his term as president, he served from 1931 to 1942 as the General Manager of Suomen maalaisten paloapuyhdistys, a fire insurance company for rural people.

[11] An abstract Relander Memorial sculpture by Matti Peltokangas was erected on Helsinki's Hesperia Esplanade in 1996.