Senegal is a republic with a presidency; the president is elected every five years as of 2016, previously being seven years from independence to 2001, five years from 2001 to 2008, and seven years again from 2008 to 2016,  by adult voters. The first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, was a poet and writer, and was the first African elected to the ''Académie française''. Senegal's second president, Abdou Diouf, later served as general secretary of the ''Organisation de la Francophonie''. The third president was Abdoulaye Wade, a lawyer. The current president is Macky Sall, elected in March 2012 and reelected in February 2019.