The President is the head of the Republic of India and is the first citizen of India. Article 53 of the Indian Constitution states that all the executive powers of the Union shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him.
In the Constitution Part V (The Union) under Chapter I (The Executive) details of qualifications, election and impeachment of the President of India is given. That is Articles from 52 to 78 in Part V of the Constitution deals with the Union Executive. The President of India is also the head of the executive, legislature and judiciary of the country.
Article 52 of the Indian constitution says that there shall be a President of India. Dr Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India.
Article 74(1) of the Constitution states that there shall be a council of ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advice the President of India.
Prime Minister is the leader of the Cabinet Ministers. The main executive powers of the government are vested in the Prime Minister while the President is the nominal head of the State.
List of Presidents of India
The Constitution of India was adopted on 26th November 1949 (It came into force on 26th January 1950) and Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first constitutional head of the state, the President of India.
| S. No. | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Rajendra Prasad | 13 May 1952 – 13 May 1957 13 May 1957 – 13 May 1962 |
| 2 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967 |
| 3 | Zakir Hussain | 13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969 |
| 4 | Varahagiri Venkata Giri | 3 May 1969 – 20 July 1969 24 August 1969 – 24 August 1974 |
| 5 | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed | 24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977 |
| 6 | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | 25 July 1977 – 25 July 1982 |
| 7 | Zail Singh | 25 July 1982 – 25 July 1987 |
| 8 | Ramaswamy Venkataraman | 25 July 1987 – 25 July 1992 |
| 9 | Shankar Dayal Sharma | 25 July 1992 – 25 July 1997 |
| 10 | Kocheril Raman Narayanan | 25 July 1997 – 25 July 2002 |
| 11 | Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam | 25 July 2002 – 25 July 2007 |
| 12 | Pratibha Patil | 25 July 2007 – 25 July 2012 |
| 13 | Pranab Mukherjee | 25 July 2012 – 25 July 2017 |
| 14 | Ram Nath Kovind | 25 July 2017 – Incumbent |
Vice President of India
Vice-President of India is the 2nd most important authoritative body after the President. As per Article 65 of the Indian Constitution, he is entitled to take important decisions in certain cases of contingency due to resignation, removal, death, impeachment or the inability of the president to discharge his/her functions.
The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Article 63 of the Indian Constitution states that “there shall be a Vice-President of India. The Vice-President is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both houses of the Parliament. The state legislature has no role in his election.
List of Vice-Presidents of India
| S. No. | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (First Vice-President of India) | 13 May 1952 – 12 May 1957 13 May 1957 – 12 May 1962 |
| 2 | Zakir Hussain | 13 May 1962 – 12 May 1967 |
| 3 | V. V. Giri | 13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969 |
| 4 | Gopal Swarup Pathak | 31 August 1969 – 30 August 1974 |
| 5 | B. D. Jatti | 31 August 1974 – 30 August 1979 |
| 6 | Mohammad Hidayatullah | 31 August 1979 – 30 August 1984 |
| 7 | R. Venkataraman | 31 August 1984 – 24 July 1987 |
| 8 | Shankar Dayal Sharma | 3 September 1987 – 24 July 1992 |
| 9 | K. R. Narayanan | 21 August 1992 – 24 July 1997 |
| 10 | Krishan Kant | 21 August 1997 – 27 July 2002 |
| 11 | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat | 19 August 2002 – 21 July 2007 |
| 12 | Mohammad Hamid Ansari | 11 August 2007 – 11 August 2012 11 August 2012 – 11 August 2017 |
| 13 | Venkaiah Naidu | 11 August 2017 – Incumbent |
