Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda was a Paraguayan army officer, politician and statesman who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the support of the army and the Colorado Party, with which he was affiliated. After a brief provisional government headed by Tomás Romero Pereira, he was the Colorado Party's presidential candidate for the 1954 general election, and was elected unopposed since all other parties were banned from 1947 to 1962.

The president of Paraguay, officially known as the president of the Republic of Paraguay, is according to the Constitution of Paraguay the head of the executive branch of the government of Paraguay, both head of state and head of government. His honorific title is Su Excelencia.