The President of the Basque Country is referred to as ''Lehendakari'' (literally, "firstlier") in Basque, or ''Eusko Jaurlaritzako Lehendakari'' ("President of the Basque Government"), The Spanish title is ''Presidente del Gobierno Vasco''. =="Lehendakari"== Before the establishment of Standard Basque in the 1970s, it was spelled ''Euzko Jaurlaritzaren Lendakari''. Incidentally, both ''euzko'' and ''lendakari'' are Basque Neologisms created by members of the Basque_Nationalist_Party. The generic Basque words for "President" and "Government" are ''presidente''/''president'' and ''gobernu'', words originally imported from Spanish. In the Basque language, they are used for other presidents, like the President_of_France or the President of Navarre, and the neologism ''lehendakari'' is reserved for the Basque one. The word ''Lehendakari'' is commonly used in Spanish, comparable to the use of Taoiseach as the title of the Irish Head_of_government in English. So far, all three post-Franco ''Lehendakari'' have come from the Basque Nationalist Party. * 1936-1960: José Antonio Aguirre y Lecube (in exile from 1937) * 1960-1978: Jesús_María_de_Leizaola_Sánchez (in exile) * 1978: Juan_de_Ajuriaguerra_Ochandiano (provisional, hours) * 1978-1979: Ramón_Rubial_Cavia (a member of the Partido Socialista de Euskadi, he was actually president of the Basque Council, a multipartite organ preparing the restoration of Basque autonomy.) * 1979-1985: Carlos_Garaikoetxea_Urriza * 1985-1999: José_Antonio_Ardanza_Garro * 1999-present: Juan_José_Ibarretxe_Markuartu Aguirre y Lecube served as first ''Lendakari'' of the ''Región Autónoma del País Vasco'', but Franco's army suspended the autonomy of the region in 1937. Category:Basque_politicians Basque Ca:Lehendakari Es:Lehendakari Eu:Lehendakari Fr:Lehendakari Gl:Lista_de_lehendakaris Nl:Lehendakari Pt:Lehendakari