António da Silva Osório Braga Soares Carneiro, OA ComI GCTE (25 January 1928 – 28 January 2014), was a Portuguese military officer. A

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...

, he was the governor of a southern province of

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

during the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

, which deposed the Estado Novo on 25 April 1974. In the 1980

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, the right-wing Democratic Alliance, a coalition of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, the Democratic and Social Centre and the People's Monarchist Party, nominated Soares Carneiro as its candidate. Two of his leading supporters,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Francisco Sá Carneiro Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro (; 19 July 19344 December 1980) was a Portuguese politician, who was one of the founders and the first leader of the Social Democratic Party (then known as the Popular Democratic Party). He served as ...

(no relation) and Defence Minister

Adelino Amaro da Costa Adelino Manuel Lopes Amaro da Costa, GCIH (18 April 1943 – 4 December 1980) was a Portuguese politician. Background Costa was a son of Civil Engineer from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon (Universidad ...

died in a plane crash while heading for a rally in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

two days before the election. Most polls suggest that the deaths did not have much influence in the result of the presidential elections since they predicted the re-election of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

António Ramalho Eanes António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes (born 25 January 1935) is a Portuguese general and politician who was the 16th president of Portugal from 1976 to 1986. Background Born at Alcains, Castelo Branco, he is the son of Manuel dos Santos Eanes, ...

, who won 56% of the votes, was opposed to Soares Carneiro's 40%. Soares Carneiro later served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, under the presidency of

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

. He died in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Electoral history

Presidential election, 1980

, - ! colspan="2" , Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , style="background:;", , align=left ,

, , 3,262,520 , , 56.4 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , António Soares Carneiro , , 2,325,481 , , 40.2 , - , style="background:#810000;", , align=left , Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho , , 85,896 , , 1.5 , - , style="background:;", , align=left ,

Carlos Galvão de Melo Carlos Galvão de Melo (4 August 1921 – 20 March 2008) was a Portuguese military officer from the Portuguese Air Force. Life Galvão de Melo was the eldest of nine children of António Augusto Ferreira de Melo, a merchant based in Mozambi ...

, , 48,468 , , 0.8 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , António Pires Veloso , , 45,132 , , 0.8 , - , style="background:red;", , align=left , António Aires Rodrigues , , 12,745 , , 0.2 , - , colspan="2" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 60,090 , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="2" align="left", Turnout , 5,840,332 , , 84.39 , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

External links

General António Soares Carneiro Profile

References

1928 births 2014 deaths Portuguese Roman Catholics Portuguese military officers Candidates for President of Portugal Portuguese colonial governors and administrators People from Matosinhos Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword {{Portugal-mil-bio-stub