José Sarney

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = His Excellency

| name = José Sarney

| image = Foto Oficial Sarney EBC.jpg

| imagesize =

| smallimage =

| caption = Official portrait, 1985

| order1 = 31st

| office1 = President of Brazil

| term_start1 = 15 March 1985

| term_end1 = 15 March 1990
Acting: 15 March 1985 – 21 April 1985

| vicepresident1 = None

| predecessor1 = João Figueiredo

| successor1 = Fernando Collor de Mello

| order2 = 20th

| office2 = Vice President of Brazil

| term_start2 = 15 March 1985

| term_end2 = 21 April 1985

| president2 = Tancredo Neves (did not assume)

| predecessor2 = Aureliano Chaves

| successor2 = Itamar Franco

| order3 = President of the Federal Senate

| term_start3 = 2 February 2009

| term_end3 = 1 February 2013

| predecessor3 = Garibaldi Alves Filho

| successor3 = Renan Calheiros

| term_start4 = 1 February 2003

| term_end4 = 14 February 2005

| predecessor4 = Ramez Tebet

| successor4 = Renan Calheiros

| term_start5 = 2 February 1995

| term_end5 = 4 February 1997

| predecessor5 = Humberto Lucena

| successor5 = Antônio Carlos Magalhães

| order6 = Senator for Amapá

| term_start6 = 1 February 1991

| term_end6 = 1 February 2015

| predecessor6 = Seat established

| successor6 = Davi Alcolumbre

| order7 = Senator for Maranhão

| term_start7 = 1 February 1971

| term_end7 = 15 March 1985

| predecessor7 = Vitorino de Brito Freire

| successor7 = Américo de Souza

| order8 = Governor of Maranhão

| term_start8 = 31 January 1966

| term_end8 = 14 May 1970

| vicegovernor8 = Antônio Dino

| predecessor8 = Newton Bello

| successor8 = Antônio Dino

| order9 = Member of the Chamber of Deputies

| term_start9 = 6 June 1955

| term_end9 = 31 January 1966

| constituency9 = Maranhão

| birth_name = José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1930|4|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Pinheiro, Maranhão, Brazil

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = PMDB (1985–present)

| spouse = {{Marriage|Marly Macieira|12 July 1952}}

| children = Roseana, Fernando, José

| alma_mater = Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA)

| profession =

| signature = Presidente José Sarney assinatura.jpg

| otherparty = {{List collapsed|title=Other parties|PFL (1985)
PDS (1979–1985)
ARENA (1965–1979)
UDN (1955–1965)}}

}}

José Sarney de Araújo Costa ({{IPA|pt|ʒuˈzɛ saʁˈnej dʒi aɾaˈuʒu ˈkɔstɐ}}; born José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa; 24 April 1930) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as 31st president of Brazil from 1985 to 1990.{{Cite news |last=Brooke |first=James |date=1990-03-13 |title=In Brazil, Scathing Criticism For the Departing President |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/13/world/in-brazil-scathing-criticism-for-the-departing-president.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921062002/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/13/world/in-brazil-scathing-criticism-for-the-departing-president.html |archive-date=2013-09-21 |access-date=2010-07-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} He briefly served as the 20th vice president of Brazil for a month between March and April 1985.

Sarney was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1955 until 1966 and of the Senate from 1971 until 1985. He was also the Governor of Maranhão from 1966 until 1970. During the Brazilian military dictatorship, Sarney affiliated himself with the government party, ARENA, becoming the president of the party in 1979. Sarney joined the dissenters, and was instrumental in the creation of the Liberal Front Party. Sarney ran for Vice-President on the ticket of Tancredo Neves of PMDB, formerly the opposition party to the military government. Neves won the presidential election, but fell ill and died before taking office, and Sarney became president.

During his presidency, José Sarney implemented ambitious plans to try to reverse the severe inflation inherited from João Figueiredo's government. Together with Finance Minister Dilson Funaro, he launched the Cruzado Plan and Cruzado II, which froze prices in an attempt to curb rising inflation. Even though both plans failed, Sarney made further attempts to freeze prices through the Bresser Plan and the Summer Plan, which also proved ineffective. In foreign policy, he signed the Iguaçu Declaration, which initiated the project for the creation of Mercosur. Additionally, during his administration, diplomatic relations between Brazil and Cuba — which had been suspended since the beginning of the military dictatorship — were restored. Sarney also convened the 1987 National Constituent Assembly, which drafted the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, replacing the 1967 authoritarian constitution. Overall, Sarney started out his term with great popularity, but public opinion shifted with the Brazilian debt crisis and the failure of Plano Cruzado to abate chronic inflation. His government is seen today as disastrous and clientelism was widespread having longlasting consequences for the Brazilian Republic post military dictatorship.

Following his presidency, Sarney resumed his senate career elected again in 1991 and serving until 2015. He also held the position of President of the Federal Senate three times following his presidency. At age {{age|1930|4|24}}, he is the oldest living former Brazilian president, and at the time of his retirement in 2015, had one of the longest congressional careers in Brazilian history.

Early life

Born in Pinheiro, Maranhão, as José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa, he was the son of Sarney de Araújo Costa, a wealthy land-owner and sugarcane producer, and Kiola Ferreira.{{Cite news |date=2004-01-17 |title=Dona Kiola, mãe de Sarney, 94 anos |trans-title=Mrs. Kiola, Sarney's mother, 94 years old |url=https://www2.senado.leg.br/bdsf/bitstream/handle/id/444854/PS_2004%20-%200207.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717074102/https://www2.senado.leg.br/bdsf/bitstream/handle/id/444854/PS_2004%20-%200207.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=2021-07-17 |access-date=2021-07-17 |work=O Globo |language=pt-BR |format=PDF}} His family has origins in Viseu in Portugal.{{Cite news |date=2001-04-23 |title=Os laços de Jader com o escândalo da fazenda fantasma |trans-title=Jader's ties to the ghost farm scandal |url=https://www.estadao.com.br/politica/os-lacos-de-jader-com-o-escandalo-da-fazenda-fantasma/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410085111/https://www.estadao.com.br/politica/os-lacos-de-jader-com-o-escandalo-da-fazenda-fantasma/ |archive-date=2023-04-10 |access-date=2021-07-17 |work=O Estado de S. Paulo |language=pt-BR}} He attended Colégio Marista and the Licéu Maranhense before attending the Federal University of Maranhão. In 1953, he graduated from the federal university receiving his bachelor's degree in law. After his graduation, he launched a postmodernist literary journal titled A Ilha.

In 1965 he legally adopted the name José Sarney de Araújo Costa, usually shortened to José Sarney, for electoral purposes.{{Cite web |last1=Dias |first1=Sônia |last2=Lemos |first2=Renato |last3=Carneiro |first3=Alan |year=2015 |title=SARNEY, José |url=https://www18.fgv.br/cpdoc/acervo/dicionarios/verbete-biografico/jose-ribamar-ferreira-de-araujo-costa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906034849/https://www18.fgv.br/cpdoc/acervo/dicionarios/verbete-biografico/jose-ribamar-ferreira-de-araujo-costa |archive-date=2017-09-06 |access-date=2021-07-17 |website=Fundação Getulio Vargas |publisher=Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil |language=pt-BR}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VhkvhllLooUC&q=jose+sarney+Federal+University+of+Maranh%C3%A3o+1953&pg=PA46|title=Brazil Today: A-Z|isbn=9780313346729|accessdate=18 July 2021|last1=Crocitti|first1=John J.|last2=Vallance|first2=Monique|year=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }} He was known as "Zé do Sarney", as in "José, son of Sarney". Sarney's father acquired the name after being born on a land owned by an Englishman named "Sir Ney".

Political career

=Early activities=

Sarney started his political career in the 1950s after becoming a replacement deputy and later as a federal deputy in 1955.{{Cite web |title=President Jose Sarney - 1985-1990 |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/brazil/president-sarney.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604000213/https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/brazil/president-sarney.htm |archive-date=2017-06-04 |access-date=2021-07-17 |website=GlobalSecurity.org}} He was a member of the centre-right National Democratic Union (União Democrática Nacional—UDN), aligned with the progressive wing of the party. He strongly supported so-called "Revolution of 1964", a military coup that overthrew leftist President João Goulart in 1964. After the military coup, Sarney followed most of the UDN into the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA), the political party of the military government.{{cite web |title=Sarney's Presidency, 1985-90 |url=http://countrystudies.us/brazil/95.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927160619/https://countrystudies.us/brazil/95.htm |archive-date=2006-09-27 |accessdate=2021-07-17 |publisher=Federal Research Division |via=countrystudies.us}} He was elected governor of the state of Maranhão in 1966, serving until 1971. He was then elected to the Brazilian Senate and became ARENA's president.

=Vice presidency=

Despite his support for the government's heavy-handed measures against dissent, Sarney had never been quite accepted by the military establishment, which tried to block his career.{{cite web|url=https://kellogg.nd.edu/sites/default/files/old_files/documents/100_0.pdf|title=DEMOCRACY IN BRAZIL: ORIGINS, PROBLEMS, PROSPECTS|publisher=Kellogg|accessdate=17 July 2021}} In 1979 ARENA reorganized as the Democratic Social Party (PDS), and Sarney remained the party's president.{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41799827|publisher=Jstor|jstor=41799827|accessdate=17 July 2021|title=The Military Ministers and Political Change in Post-Authoritarian Brazil|last1=Zirker|first1=Daniel|journal=Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Latino-Américaines et Caraïbes|year=1993|volume=18|issue=35|pages=87–110|doi=10.1080/08263663.1993.10816691}} In 1984, the junta was under pressure due to popular protests to reinstate direct elections for president (Diretas Já movement). PDS was divided but launched Paulo Maluf as its candidate for the presidency in indirect elections.{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20171221-veteran-brazilian-politician-jailed-corruption|title=Veteran Brazilian politician jailed for corruption|date=21 December 2017 |publisher=France24|accessdate=17 July 2021}}

Sarney disagreed with this decision and left PDS to form the Liberal Front Party, which then allied with the PMDB.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-09-mn-8608-story.html|title=Sarney Seeking New Political Allies in Brazil|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=9 October 1987|accessdate=17 July 2021}} As part of the deal, Sarney became Tancredo Neves' running mate on the opposition ticket.{{Cite news |last=Onis |first=Juan de |date=1985-05-10 |title=President by Chance, Sarney of Brazil Is 'Agitator Who Makes Things Happen' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-10-mn-18139-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717075213/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-10-mn-18139-story.html |archive-date=2021-07-17 |access-date=2021-07-17 |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Brasília}} Neves won the election of 15 January 1985, but became gravely ill the night before his inauguration. Sarney assumed office as vice-president and acting president until Neves died on 21 April, and he formally became the first civilian president in 21 years.{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/04/22/Jose-Sarney-was-sworn-in-as-Brazils-first-civilian/6243482994000/|title=Jose Sarney was sworn in as Brazil's first civilian president|publisher=UPI|accessdate=17 July 2021}}

=Presidency=

His succession raised some question because as Neves could not attend the inauguration ceremony on 15 March, several politicians contended at the time that Sarney should not have been inaugurated as vice-president and allowed to become acting president. They believed that Sarney had been elected vice-president only by virtue of the election of his running mate as president. Each member of the Electoral College cast one vote, for president, and the choice of president carried with it the automatic selection of the ticket's running mate as vice-president, Sarney could take office only as vice-president together with Neves.{{cite web|url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cruzado.htm|title=José Sarney, Hyperinflation and The Cruzado Plan in Brazil in the Late 1980s|publisher=SJSU|accessdate=17 July 2021}} Some critics argued that in the event of the head of the presidential ticket not being able to assume office, the presidential powers and duties should pass to the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Ulysses Guimarães.

File:Posse Presidente da República 1985 (16132011570).jpg as Vice President of Brazil on 15 March 1985, immediately becoming Acting President]]

File:President Ronald Reagan with soccer player Pele and President José Sarney of Brazil.jpg and Pelé during a state dinner at the White House, 1986]]

There was some partisanship in this line of thought since both Neves and Guimarães were members of the same party, and Sarney was not. He had been a supporter of the military, and only recently had joined the coalition to defeat the military's candidate in the electoral college. The challenge to Sarney's inauguration was short-lived, however, because in the early hours of inauguration day, Guimarães himself stated that he believed that Sarney had the right to be inaugurated even without Neves, as the role of the vice-president was precisely that of replacing the president when needed.

Sarney and the president of Argentina, Raúl Alfonsín, started the process of creating a common market between the two nations in 1985.{{cite web|url=https://www.infobae.com/sociedad/2021/03/30/el-dia-que-raul-alfonsin-y-jose-sarney-intentaron-romper-la-rivalidad-entre-argentina-y-brasil-y-plantaron-la-semilla-del-mercosur/|title=El día que Raúl Alfonsín y José Sarney intentaron romper la rivalidad entre Argentina y Brasil y plantaron la semilla del Mercosur|date=30 March 2021 |publisher=Infobae|accessdate=17 July 2021}} As first steps, they agreed to subsidize regional trade with a special currency for the purpose (the Gaucho).{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40241255|title=The World-System and the Destruction of the Brazilian Amazon Rain Forest|publisher=JSTOR|jstor=40241255|accessdate=17 July 2021|last1=Barbosa|first1=Luiz C.|journal=Review (Fernand Braudel Center)|year=1993|volume=16|issue=2|pages=215–240}} The agreement led to the formation of the Mercosur in 1991.{{cite web|url=https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/in-depth-30-years-ago-mercosurs-creation-put-an-end-to-the-historic-tensions-between-brazil-and-argentina/|title=In-depth: 30 years ago, Mercosur's creation put an end to the historic tensions between Brazil and Argentina|date=21 March 2021 |publisher=Rio Times Online|accessdate=17 July 2021}} He also oversaw constitutional amendments that purged the remaining vestiges of authoritarianism from the 1967/1969 Constitution.{{Cite news |last=Graham |first=Bradley |date=2023-12-29 |title=Sarney's tenure embroils brazilian politics |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/03/17/sarneys-tenure-embroils-brazilian-politics/34933ee5-fc17-4936-bf90-e7d9d85cecf9/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616154607/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/03/17/sarneys-tenure-embroils-brazilian-politics/34933ee5-fc17-4936-bf90-e7d9d85cecf9/ |archive-date=2024-06-16 |access-date=2021-07-17 |newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Brasília |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

Sarney faced many problems: enormous foreign debt, rampant inflation and corruption as well as the transition to democracy. During his presidency, the country had a 934% inflation rate and was overshadowed with union strikes and corruption scandals. Sarney launched an economic plan to stabilize the economy, called "Plano Cruzado", successful at first.{{cite web|url=http://www.fgv.br/cpdoc/acervo/dicionarios/verbete-tematico/plano-cruzado|title=PLANO CRUZADO|accessdate=17 July 2021|publisher=FGV}} The inflation worsened however under Sarney's Plano Cruzado. A new, fully democratic constitution was promulgated in 1988, and in the following year, the first direct elections since 1960 were held. Sarney was barred from running for president in his own right in that election. In Brazil, whenever the vice president ascends as president, it counts as a full term. At the time, Brazilian presidents were barred from immediate re-election.

=Post-presidency=

File:Entrevistas Diversas - 49652165431 (cropped).jpg

Sarney supported Fernando Henrique Cardoso as presidential candidate in 1994 and 1998 and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2002.{{cite web|url=https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/governo-fernando-henrique-cardoso.htm|title=Governo Fernando Henrique Cardoso|publisher=Brasilescola|accessdate=17 July 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2021/05/lula-tem-encontro-com-sarney-apos-bolsonaro-tentar-se-aproximar-de-emedebista.shtml|title=Lula tem encontro com Sarney após Bolsonaro tentar se aproximar de emedebista|date=6 May 2021 |publisher=Folha|language=Portuguese|accessdate=17 July 2021}} He returned to the Senate after his presidency, this time representing Amapá, and served as President of the Senate from 1995 to 1997, 2003 to 2005, 2009 to 2011, and 2011 to 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.senado.gov.br/senadores/presidentes/nova_republica.shtm|title=Presidentes do Senado Federal - Nova República|date=22 January 2013|accessdate=17 July 2021}} He retired from politics in 2015 and was the longest-serving member of the Brazilian Congress at the time of his retirement.{{Cite news |last=Romero |first=Simon |date=2014-12-26 |title=Decline of a Political Family Opens the Way for a Shift in Brazil |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/world/decline-of-a-political-family-opens-the-way-for-a-shift-in-brazil.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226133959/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/world/decline-of-a-political-family-opens-the-way-for-a-shift-in-brazil.html |archive-date=2014-12-26 |access-date=2021-07-17 |work=The New York Times |location=São Luís |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} His retirement was noted by The New York Times as a "decline of a political dynasty" which would cause a political shift in the country. All told, he spent all but 23 months in elected office from his first election as deputy in 1955 until his retirement from the Senate in 2015.

Sarney is regarded as the foremost of Brazil's oligarchs. Sarney owns the most important newspapers and television stations in Maranhão.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2014/01/11/how-brazils-poorest-state-minted-one-of-the-countrys-richest-and-most-controversial-political-clans/?sh=5064303774ba|title=How Brazil's Poorest State Minted One Of The Country's Richest -- And Most Controversial -- Political Clans|work=Forbes|date=11 June 2014|accessdate=17 July 2021}} Sarney has also faced multiple allegations of nepotism and corruption in his career.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/09701a21fefdd71be6088418b5993384|title=Ph.D. Thesis Uncovers Widespread Nepotism in Brazil's Congress|publisher=AP|accessdate=17 July 2021|date=15 March 1989}} In 2009, the British weekly The Economist called his election as President of the Senate "a victory for semi-feudalism" and "a throwback to an era of semi-feudal politics that still prevails in corners of Brazil and holds the rest of it back."{{cite web|url=http://www.economist.com/node/13062220?story_id=13062220|title=Where dinosaurs still roam|publisher=The Economist|date=5 February 2009|accessdate=17 July 2021}} Veja columnist Roberto Pompeu de Toledo deemed him "the perfect oligarch".{{cite web|publisher=Veja|url=http://veja.abril.com.br/080409/pompeu.shtml|title=O oligarca perfeito|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615200019/http://veja.abril.com.br/080409/pompeu.shtml |archive-date=15 June 2011 }}

Sérgio Machado, former president of Transpetro, said in his plea agreement within the Operation Car Wash that Sarney received R$18.5 million of the bribe money from a Petrobras subsidiary, in the PMDB account during the period in which he directed the company (2003–2015).{{Cite web| url =http://exame.abril.com.br/brasil/noticias/sergio-machado-relata-repasse-de-r-18-5-milhoes-a-sarney| title=Sérgio Machado relata repasse de R$ 18,5 milhões a Sarney |language=pt|publisher=Revista Exame|access-date= 15 June 2016}}

=Electoral history=

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 2006 Brazilian Senate election in Amapá

| electorate = 360,614

| turnout_votes = 298,309

| turnout_percent = 82.72

| majority_votes = 29,108

| result = hold

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

| winner_votes = 152,486

| winner_percent = 53.87

| candidate2 = Cristina Almeida

| candidate2_party = Brazilian Socialist Party

| candidate2_votes = 123,378

| candidate2_percent = 43.59

| candidate3 = Celisa Penna

| candidate3_party = Socialism and Liberty Party

| candidate3_votes = 3,608

| candidate3_percent = 1.27

| candidate4 = Juraci Freitas

| candidate4_party = Brazilian Social Democracy Party

| candidate4_votes = 1,360

| candidate4_percent = 0.48

| candidate5 = Liduína Bastos

| candidate5_party = United Socialist Workers' Party

| candidate5_votes = 1,150

| candidate5_percent = 0.41

| candidate6 = Cosmo Silva

| candidate6_party = Progressive Republican Party (Brazil)

| candidate6_votes = 753

| candidate6_percent = 0.27

}}

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 1998 Brazilian Senate election in Amapá

| electorate = 213,289

| turnout_votes = 184,348

| turnout_percent = 86.43

| majority_votes = 44,429

| result = hold

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

| winner_votes = 97,446

| winner_percent = 59.31

| candidate2 = Ildegardo Gomes

| candidate2_party = Popular Socialist Party (Brazil)

| candidate2_votes = 53,037

| candidate2_percent = 32.28

| candidate3 = José Soares da Silva

| candidate3_party = Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)

| candidate3_votes = 6,119

| candidate3_percent = 3.73

| candidate4 = Walter Cunha da Silva

| candidate4_party = Social Christian Party (Brazil)

| candidate4_votes = 4,471

| candidate4_percent = 2.72

| candidate5 = Vanda Cherfen de Souza

| candidate5_party = Labour Party of Brazil

| candidate5_votes = 3,228

| candidate5_percent = 1.96

}}

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 1990 Brazilian Senate election in Amapá

| election_note = Three candidates elected

| electorate = 135,939

| turnout_votes = 105,937

| turnout_percent = 77.93

| majority_votes = 25,767

| result =

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

| winner_votes = 53,004

| winner_percent = 24.55

| candidate2 = Henrique Almeida

| candidate2_party = Liberal Front Party

| candidate2_votes = 27,237

| candidate2_percent = 12.62

| candidate3 = Jonas Borges

| candidate3_party = Brazilian Labour Party (1981)

| candidate3_votes = 26,016

| candidate3_percent = 12.05

| candidate4 = Geovani Borges

| candidate4_party = Social Christian Party (Brazil)

| candidate4_votes = 21,376

| candidate4_percent = 9.90

| candidate5 = Wagner Gomes

| candidate5_party = Workers' Party (Brazil)

| candidate5_votes = 17,199

| candidate5_percent = 7.97

| candidate6 = Edson Correia

| candidate6_party = Liberal Party (Brazil, 1985)

| candidate6_votes = 16,369

| candidate6_percent = 7.58

| candidate7 = Raquel Capiberibe

| candidate7_party = Brazilian Socialist Party

| candidate7_votes = 15,993

| candidate7_percent = 7.41

| candidate8 = Heraldo Araújo

| candidate8_party = Brazilian Social Democracy Party

| candidate8_votes = 6,564

| candidate8_percent = 3.04

| candidate9 = Cláudio Nunes

| candidate9_party = Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)

| candidate9_votes = 5,787

| candidate9_percent = 2.68

| candidate10 = Clark Platon

| candidate10_party = Brazilian Labour Party (1981)

| candidate10_votes = 5,648

| candidate10_percent = 2.62

| candidate11 = Carmem Maia

| candidate11_party = Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)

| candidate11_votes = 2,302

| candidate11_percent = 2.46

| candidate12 = Maria Vitória Chagas

| candidate12_party = Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)

| candidate12_votes = 3,675

| candidate12_percent = 1.70

| candidate13 = Antônio Pedreira

| candidate13_party = Labour Party of Brazil

| candidate13_votes = 3,432

| candidate13_percent = 1.59

| candidate14 = Amaury Farias

| candidate14_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

| candidate14_votes = 3,181

| candidate14_percent = 1.47

| candidate15 = Nelson Souza

| candidate15_party = Progressive Republican Party (Brazil)

| candidate15_votes = 2,017

| candidate15_percent = 0.93

| candidate16 = Marlúcio Serrano

| candidate16_party = Party of National Mobilization

| candidate16_votes = 1,810

| candidate16_percent = 0.84

| candidate17 = Milton Pauletto

| candidate17_party = Democratic Social Party

| candidate17_votes = 1,274

| candidate17_percent = 0.59

}}

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 1985 Brazilian vice presidential election

| election_note = Electoral college

| electorate = 686

| turnout_votes = 686

| turnout_percent = 100

| majority_votes = 300

| result =

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

| winner_votes = 480

| winner_percent = 72.73

| candidate2 = Flávio Marcílio

| candidate2_party = Democratic Social Party

| candidate2_votes = 180

| candidate2_percent = 27.27

}}

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 1978 Brazilian Senate election in Maranhão

| electorate = 1,077,915

| turnout_votes = 758,306

| turnout_percent = 70.35

| majority_votes = 247,761

| result = hold

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = National Renewal Alliance

| winner_votes = 409,633

| winner_percent = 64.16

| candidate2 = Mário Ribeiro

| candidate2_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement

| candidate2_votes = 161,872

| candidate2_percent = 25.36

| candidate3 = Américo de Souza

| candidate3_party = National Renewal Alliance

| candidate3_votes = 66,897

| candidate3_percent = 10.48

}}

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 1970 Brazilian Senate election in Maranhão

| election_note = Two candidates elected

| electorate = 470,731

| turnout_votes = 351,850

| turnout_percent = 74.75

| majority_votes = 52,628

| result = hold

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = National Renewal Alliance

| winner_votes = 236,618

| winner_percent = 42.35

| candidate2 = Alexandre Costa

| candidate2_party = National Renewal Alliance

| candidate2_votes = 183,990

| candidate2_percent = 32.93

| candidate3 = Epitácio Cafeteira

| candidate3_party = Brazilian Democratic Movement

| candidate3_votes = 138,111

| candidate3_percent = 24.72

}}

{{Compact election box no change

| election_title = 1965 Maranhão gubernatorial election

| electorate = 401,153

| turnout_votes = 247,156

| turnout_percent = 61.61

| majority_votes = 52,502

| result =

| loser_party =

| winner = José Sarney

| winner_party = National Democratic Union (Brazil)

| winner_votes = 121,062

| winner_percent = 53.63

| candidate2 = Costa Rodrigues

| candidate2_party = Christian Democratic Party (Brazil)

| candidate2_votes = 68,560

| candidate2_percent = 30.37

| candidate3 = Renato Archer

| candidate3_party = Brazilian Labour Party (1945)

| candidate3_votes = 36,103

| candidate3_percent = 15.99

}}

Personal life

File:José Sarney e Marly Sarney no dia da posse.jpg]]

In 1952, Sarney married Marly Macieira.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONcNXI2m7xAC&q=Marly+Macieira+1952&pg=PA232|title=Na arena do marketing político: ideologia e propaganda nas campanhas|isbn=9788532302168|language=Portuguese|accessdate=17 July 2021|last1=Queiroz|first1=Adolpho|year=2006|publisher=Summus Editorial }} Their children are Congressman José Sarney Filho, Governor Roseana Sarney, and the businessman Fernando Sarney.

As a writer, his best known work is the poetry book Os Marimbondos de Fogo ("The Fire Wasps").{{cite web|url=https://www.estantevirtual.com.br/livros/jose-sarney/os-maribondos-de-fogo/867890756|title=Livro: Os Maribondos de Fogo|publisher=Estantevirtual|accessdate=17 July 2021}} Sarney was elected to a chair in the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1980.{{cite web|url=https://glli-us.org/2020/04/13/brazilian-academy-of-letters/|title=BRAZILIAN ACADEMY OF LETTERS|date=13 April 2020 |publisher=Glli-us|accessdate=17 July 2021}}

In April 2012, Sarney was hospitalized and underwent an angioplasty.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-17725384|title=Brazil's former president Jose Sarney has heart surgery|publisher=BBC|date=16 April 2012|accessdate=17 July 2021}} In July 2021, he was hospitalized for pleural effusion and had a procedure to remove fluid from his lungs.{{cite web|url=https://oimparcial.com.br/noticias/2021/06/jose-sarney-e-internado-em-hospital-em-brasilia/|title=José Sarney é internado em hospital em Brasília|date=25 June 2021 |publisher=Oimparcial|language=Portuguese|accessdate=16 July 2021}}

In July 2023, Sarney was hospitalized after a fall and was diagnosed with cerebral ischemia.{{cite news| last =| first =| date = July 17, 2023| title = José Sarney é diagnosticado com isquemia cerebral e recebe alta em São Luís| newspaper = G1| page = | url = https://g1.globo.com/ma/maranhao/noticia/2023/07/17/jose-sarney-e-diagnosticado-com-isquemia-cerebral-e-recebe-alta-em-sao-luis.ghtml| access-date = September 6, 2023| quote =}}

Awards and decorations

Below is a selected list of awards Sarney has received:{{cite web|url=http://www2.camara.gov.br/a-camara/conheca/historia/Ex_presidentesCD_Republica/michel.html|title=Presidentes da Câmara dos Deputados – República – Michel Temer|access-date=7 November 2017|work=Portal da Câmara}}

=National honours=

class="wikitable"
style="width:80px;"\| Ribbon bar	Honour	Date
80px \| Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross \| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office
80px \| Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco \| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office
80px \| Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit \| 1995 – automatic upon taking presidential office
80px \| Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit \| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office
80px \| Grand Cross of the Order of Aeronautical Merit \| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office
80px \| Grand Cross of the Order of Military Judicial Merit \| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office
80px \| Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit \| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

class="wikitable"

style="width:80px;"| Ribbon bar

Honour

Date

80px

| Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross

| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

80px

| Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco

| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

80px

| Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit

| 1995 – automatic upon taking presidential office

80px

| Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit

| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

80px

| Grand Cross of the Order of Aeronautical Merit

| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

80px

| Grand Cross of the Order of Military Judicial Merit

| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

80px

| Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit

| 1985 – automatic upon taking presidential office

=Foreign honours=

class="wikitable"
style="width:80px;"\| Ribbon bar	Country	Honour
File:Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg \| {{flag\|France}} \| Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
File:Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio.png \| {{flag\|Italy}} \| Medal of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
File:Den kongelige norske fortjenstorden storkors stripe.svg \| {{flag\|Norway}} \| Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
File:PER Order of the Sun of Peru - Grand Cross BAR.png \| {{flag\|Peru}} \| Grand Cross with diamonds of the Order of the Sun of Peru
File:PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Collar BAR.png \| {{flag\|Portugal}} \| Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword
80px \| {{flag\|Portugal}} \| Grand Cross of the Order of Christ
80px \| {{flag\|Portugal}} \| Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
File:Order of the Star of Romania - Ribbon bar.svg \| {{flag\|Romania}} \| Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania

class="wikitable"

style="width:80px;"| Ribbon bar

Country

Honour

File:Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg

| {{flag|France}}

| Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour

File:Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio.png

| {{flag|Italy}}

| Medal of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George

File:Den kongelige norske fortjenstorden storkors stripe.svg

| {{flag|Norway}}