The president of the Republic of Liberia is the head of state and government of Liberia. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
Image: Joseph Jenkins Roberts
Image: Stephen Allen Benson (cropped)
Image: Edward James Roye c. 1850 (cropped)
Image: Skivring Smith
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and retitled in 1956. For almost all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.
A Liberian color guard marches on Armed Forces Day in 2010.
Chief of the Liberian Frontier Force, Captain Alford Russ (seated far right) sits alongside members of President Barclay's party during the Liberian President's visit to Washington DC in 1943.
President Samuel Doe with United States Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger during a visit to Washington DC in 1982
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf inspecting AFL soldiers on board USS Fort McHenry in 2008
