The Indonesian presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 Constitution by the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK).

[2]: 138  On 16 October 1945, Vice President Mohammad Hatta announced a vice-presidential decree which gave the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) legislative powers.

[4] On 17 December 1949, Sukarno was elected president of the United States of Indonesia (RIS), and the presidential mandate passed to Assaat.

Nonetheless, he was never content with the role of ceremonial head of State, and grew increasingly disenchanted with western-style parliamentary democracy.

In the early 1950s, he began calling for the implementation of "Guided Democracy," in which decisions would be made after lengthy deliberation with a view toward achieving a consensus under presidential "guidance."

Taking advantage of the situation, Sukarno made a speech in April 1959 and suggested that Indonesia return to the 1945 Constitution.

When the assembly did not budge, Sukarno issued a presidential decree on 5 July 1959 declaring that Indonesia was returning to the 1945 Constitution.

MPR, which at this stage was still on a provisional basis (MPRS), was subservient to the president despite its status of the nation's highest governing body.

It was only in 1966, when the political tide began to turn against Sukarno that the MPRS nominally regained its rightful constitutional status.

Nominally, if these regulations were not approved by the House of Representatives (DPR, the pre-2004 legislative branch), they were considered revoked.

However, given the DPR's infrequent sessions and the near-total dominance of the pro-government political grouping, Golkar, such approval was a mere formality.

Wahid was replaced by his vice-president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Sukarno and former opposition leader during Suharto's presidency.

The 2014 Indonesian presidential election was held on 9 July 2014 and matched former general and Suharto's ex-son in law Prabowo Subianto against the governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo.

7 Regarding Presidential and Vice-Presidential ElectionsThe presidential candidate must: This law also stipulates that only political parties or a coalition of political parties that obtained 20% of the seats in the DPR or 25% of the total valid votes in the previous election may nominate president and vice president candidate.

Before entering their office, the president or vice-president must take an oath or affirmation in the session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Currently there are 14 decorations which will be bestowed upon them soon after taking office, namely:[17] The most recent presidential election was held in 2024 where Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka defeated Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo with 58.6% of the vote.