List of resignations from government

Prior to 2000

• 1795 - John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States.
• 1800 - Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States.
• 1817 - Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of New York.
• 1829 - Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York.
• 1832 - John C. Calhoun, Vice President of the United States.
• 1848 - Francis R. Shunk, Governor of Pennsylvania.
• 1851 - Peter Hardeman Burnett, Governor of California.
• 1885 - Grover Cleveland, Governor of New York, resigned to take office as President of the United States.
• 1898 - John W. Griggs, Governor of New Jersey.
• 1910 - Charles Evans Hughes, Governor of New York.
• 1912 - Sun Yat-sen, Provisional President of China, in favor of Yuan Shikai.
• 1913 - Woodrow Wilson, Governor of New Jersey, resigned to take office as President of the United States.
• 1942 - Herbert H. Lehman, Governor of New York.
• 1947 - Edward Martin, Governor of Pennsylvania.
• 1947 - Walter E. Edge, Governor of New Jersey.
• 1960 - John F. Kennedy, United States Senator, resigned to take office as President of the United States.
• 1963 - John Profumo, British Secretary of State for War, after misleading the British House of Commons in relation to his controversial personal life.
• 1967 - Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of the United Arab Republic (later retracted)
• 1969 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France, following defeat in a constitutional referendum.
• 1973 -
  • Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States, over allegations of financial irregularities.
  • Gerald Ford, United States Congressman, resigned to take office as Vice President of the United States.
  • Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York.
• 1974 -
  • Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany. (May 7)
  • Richard Nixon, President of the United States, after becoming mired in the Watergate scandal. (August 9)
  • Kakuei Tanaka, Prime Minister of Japan. (December 9)
  • Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel. (April 11)
• 1976 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, President of Ireland, after a falling out with the Irish Government.
• 1977- Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel. (April 8)
• 1981- Adolfo Suárez, Prime Minister of Spain. (January 29)
• 1984 - Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. (June 30)
• 1986 - Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (February 25), actually defeated in elections he tried to rig in his favor, triggering protests.
• 1990 -
  • Geoffrey Howe, British Deputy Prime Minister, over differences with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over government policy on the European single currency. (November 1)
  • Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, after narrowly failing to win the first round of a leadership contest. (November 27)
• 1991 -
  • Albert Reynolds, Irish Minister for Finance.
  • Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the USSR. (December 25)
• 1992 - Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas, resigned to take office as President of the United States. (December 12)
• 1993 - Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada, retiring from politics. (June 25)
• 1994 -
  • Morihiro Hosokawa, Prime Minister of Japan. (April 28)
  • Tsutomu Hata, Prime Minister of Japan. (June 30)
  • Joycelyn Elders, Surgeon General of the United States.
• 1995 - John Major, British Prime Minister (resigning as leader of the Conservative Party).
• 1996 -
  • Albert Zafy, President of Madagascar, facing impeachment (September 5).
  • Zhan Videnov (Prime Minister of Bulgaria) and his government resign in December amidst the financial crisis.
• 1997 -
  • Fife Symington, Governor of Arizona.
  • Sir Julius Chan, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, due to the Sandline affair (March 26).
  • Sali Berisha, President of Albania, after the collapse of the government's economic pyramid schemes (July 23).
• 1998 -
  • Levon Ter-Petrossian, President of Armenia (February 3).
  • Suharto, 2nd President of Indonesia, ending three decades of the New Order period. (May 21)
• 1999 -
  • Raúl Cubas Grau, President of Paraguay, facing impeachment (March 28).
  • Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, retiring from politics (December 31).

2000

• Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, in a letter sent from Japan; the resignation is not accepted by Congress which instead declares the president "morally unfit" and removes him from office. (November 22)
• George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, resigned to take office as President of the United States. (December 22)

2001

• Joseph Estrada, President of the Philippines
• Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey, to take office as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgian Minister for Justice.
• Tom Ridge, Governor of Pennsylvania, to become the first Secretary of Homeland Security
• Henry McLeish, First Minister of Scotland, over allegations of improper financial dealings.
• Hugo Banzer Suárez, President of Bolivia, due to ill health (August 7).
• Fernando de la Rúa, President of Argentina, during riots prompted by an economic crisis (December 20); and Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, de la Rúa's interim successor (resignation declared December 30 and accepted January 1, 2002).

2002

• Cassam Uteem, President of Mauritius, declaring his refusal to sign controversial anti-terrorism legislation (February 15); Vice President Angidi Chettiar, who became acting president, also resigns for the same reason (February 18).

2003

• Robin Cook, British Leader of the House of Commons (formerly Foreign Secretary), over his opposition to the UK's involvement in the invasion of Iraq.
• Clare Short, British Secretary of State for International Development, resigned because of the Iraq war.
• Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
• Charles G. Taylor, President of Liberia, went to exile in Nigeria after being charged for war crimes.
• Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia, after extensive public demonstrations against him
• Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, retiring from politics.
• Freddy Matungulu, Minister of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on grounds of ethical divergence from the larger government.
• Peter Hollingworth, Governor-General of Australia, in response to an accusation of mishandling a sexual abuse case during his term as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane (eff. May 28).
• Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Prime Minister of Finland (June 18).
• Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, President of Bolivia, during massive protests against the government's economic policy (October 17).
• Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada, retiring from politics. (December 12).

2004

• George Tenet, Director of US Central Intelligence, officially for 'personal reasons', resigned after criticism of the CIA's approach to intelligence used to support the 2003 Iraq War.
• James McGreevey, Governor of New Jersey (November 15), after being mired in Pay to Play and extortion scandals
• François Lonseny Fall, Prime Minister of Guinea, who went into exile after his resignation (April 30).

2005

• Tom DeLay, Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, from his leadership position while under investigation. (September 28)
• Michael D. Brown, Director of Federal Emergency Management Agency, after heavy criticism of his handling of emergency management operations in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
• Greg Sorbara, Finance Minister of Ontario, resigned while under investigation.
• Tung Chee Hwa, 1st Chief Executive of Hong Kong, resigned due to health reasons. (March 10)
• David Blunkett, British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, resigning after breaking the Ministerial Code regarding private business appointments, becoming the second minister to resign twice from the Blair government.
• Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo, after succeeding his late father Gnassingbé Eyadéma in a process deemed unconstitutional by the international community (February 25); National Assembly speaker Abass Bonfoh became acting president until Faure was legitimately elected to the presidency on April 24.
• Stanislav Gross, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (April 9).
• Askar Akayev, President of Kyrgyzstan, was forced to resign from office on March 24, is formally accepted by the nation's Parliament (April 11).
• Omar Karami, Prime Minister of Lebanon, after failing to form a new government (April 13); he previously resigned February 28.
• Ronald Gajraj, home minister of Guyana, accused of overseeing "phantom death squads" (April 30).
• Michael Howard, British Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the British Conservative Party after losing the general election (May 6)
• Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France, after French voters rejected the government-supported referendum on the European Constitution (May 31).
• Carlos Mesa, President of Bolivia (resignation offered June 6 and accepted by Congress June 9).
• Abdul-Halim Khaddam, Vice President of Syria (June 6).
• Zokirjon Almatov, interior minister of Uzbekistan, after the government's crackdown in Andijan (December 22).
• Pierluigi Collina, Italian FIFA football referee, from all refereeing, after being disbarred from officiating in top-flight matches in Italy following the signing of his unauthorised sponsorship deal with Opel vehicles (August).

2006

• Charles Kennedy, leader of the British Liberal Democrats, under pressure from his party after admitting an alcohol problem.
• Prince Lavaka Ata 'Ulukalala, Prime Minister of Tonga, after public demonstrations in favour of reducing royal influence in politics.
• Porter Goss, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. No explanation was given; Goss referred to his decision as "just one of those mysteries".
• Ayaan Hirsi Ali, member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.
• Laila Freivalds, Swedish foreign minister, in response to a number of scandals including her ministry's perceived inadequate response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (March 21).
• Snyder Rini, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, facing riots after only eight days in office (April 26).
• Mari Alkatiri, Prime Minister of East Timor, during the 2006 East Timorese crisis (June 26).
• United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, after the opposition party took control of the US House of Representatives in midterm elections and was on course to secure control of the Senate (3 November).
• Opposition members of Lebanon's cabinet, including ministers from the Hezbollah and Amal parties. This led to two years of political crisis and opposition protests surrounding the government buildings. (November 13)
• Michael Chong, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. Resigned from cabinet in response to the government declaring the Québécois a nation within Canadian Confederation. (November 27)
• Michael Grade, chairman of the BBC, to join the ITV network (28 November).

2007

• Iajuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh, in his capacity as chief adviser during the 2006–2007 Bangladeshi political crisis (January 11).
• Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian foreign minister (January 30).
• Romano Prodi, Italian Prime Minister, after losing a vote of no confidence. His resignation was rejected by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano (21 February).
• Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, stepped down as leader of the Labour Party on (27 June), during his third term. Deputy Leader John Prescott and Home Secretary John Reid, and several other Cabinet ministers, followed suit, including Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and Justice Secretary Lord Falconer
• Su Tseng-Chang, Taiwanese Prime Minister, after failing to secure election as his party's candidate for the 2008 presidential election (12 May).
• Hani al-Qawasmi, Interior Minister of Palestine, after the security situation in Gaza worsened (14 May)
• Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, due to the Shaha Riza scandal (17 May).
• Alberto Gonzales, United States Attorney General
• Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan announced September 2007.
• Mike Johanns, United States Secretary of Agriculture, resigned to run for the Senate
• Peter Fincham, BBC One controller, after a row about the portrayal of the Queen in a television series preview (5 October).
• Sir Menzies Campbell, Leader of the British Liberal Democrats, citing questions about his leadership (15 October)
• Trent Lott, the United States Senate Majority Leader. (17 December)

2008

• Peter Hain, British Work and Pensions and Wales Secretary, after the Electoral Commission referred investigations over political funding to the Police (January 24).
• Romano Prodi, Italian Prime Minister, after losing a motion of no confidence in the Senate (January 24).
• Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York, after claims of involvement in a prostitution ring (March 17)
• David Davis, Shadow Home Secretary and MP, in disagreement over the proposal to detain terror suspects in the UK for 42 days without trial. (12 June)
• Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan since 2007, citing problems with health and leadership (September)
• Barack Obama, resigned as U.S. Senator from Illinois (November 16) to become president of the United States.

2009

• Joe Biden, resigned as US Senator to become Vice President of the United States (January 15)
• Sarah Palin, resigned as Governor of Alaska (July 26)

2010

• Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, resigned as Leader of the Labour Party (May 11)
• David Laws, Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the United Kingdom (May 30) Forced to resign over expenses abuse allegations, after it emerged he had channelled tens of thousands of pounds in public money to his longtime partner
• Horst Köhler, President of Germany (May 31)
• GEN. Stanley A McChrystal, Commander, ISAF, Commander, USFOR-AF, after making inappropriate comments about the president and civilian officials.
• Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan, resigned due to breaking a campaign promise to close an American military base on the island of Okinawa (June 2)

2011

• Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia (January 14)
• Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt (February 11)
• Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan (August 10)
• Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica (October 23)
• Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru (November 10)
• George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, resigned due to economic crisis and to form a national unity government (November 10)
• Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, resigned due to economic crisis and lost majority in Chamber of Deputies (November 12)

2012

• Uhuru Kenyatta, Finance Minister of Kenya, after being indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity (January 26)
• Emil Boc, Prime Minister of Romania (February 6)
• Mohamed Nasheed, President of Maldives (February 7)
• Christian Wulff, President of Germany (February 17)
• Kevin Rudd, Foreign Minister of Australia (February 22)
• Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President of Mauritius, to return to party politics (March 30)
• Pál Schmitt, President of Hungary, in plagiarism scandal (April 2)
• David Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, for an extramarital affair reportedly uncovered in an FBI investigation (November 9)

2013

• Annette Schavan, Education Minister of Germany, after her doctorate was revoked for plagiarism (February 9)
• Benedict XVI, Pope and Sovereign of the Vatican City State (February 11)
• Hamadi Jebali, Prime Minister of Tunisia (February 19)
• Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria (February 20)
• Benigno R. Fitial, Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, to avoid being convicted in his impeachment trial (February 20)
• Mario Monti, Prime Minister of Italy (April 28)
• Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia (June 26)

2014

• Enrico Letta, Prime Minister of Italy (February 13)
• Jung Hong-won, Prime Minister of South Korea
• Eric Shinseki, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (May 30)
• Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland announced intention to resign in November after the result of the 2014 independence referendum.