José Laureano Pineda Ugarte was a Nicaraguan lawyer and politician who, as a Senator in the Legislative Assembly and member of the Democratic Party, was appointed to serve as 7th and later 8th Supreme Director of the State of Nicaragua on three occasions. originally elected on 1 April 1851, later in dissidence in Honduras after being removed from office as a result of a military coup led by José Trinidad Muñoz, and finally alongside Fulgencio Vega from 11 November the same year.

The president of Nicaragua, officially known as the president of the Republic of Nicaragua, is the head of state and head of government of Nicaragua. The office was created in the Constitution of 1854. From 1825 until the Constitution of 1839, the head of state of Nicaragua was styled simply as Head of State, and from 1839 to 1854 as Supreme Director.