The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU). The current president of the European Central Bank is Christine Lagarde, previously the chair and managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde has served as the president of the ECB since 1 November 2019. She is the first woman to hold the post. Role and appointment The president heads the executive board, Governing Council and General Council of the ECB, and represents the bank abroad, for example at the G20. The officeholder is appointed by a qualified majority vote of the European Council, de facto by those who have adopted the euro, for an eight-year non-renewable term. History Duisenberg Wim Duisenberg was President of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) when it became the ECB, just prior to the launch of the Euro, on 1 June 1998. Duisenberg then became the first President of the ECB. The French interpretation of the agreement made with the installation of Wim Duisenberg as ECB President was that Duisenberg would resign after just four years of his eight-year term, and would be replaced by the Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet. Duisenberg always strongly denied that such an agreement was made and stated in February 2002 that he would stay in office until his 68th birthday on 9 July 2003. In the meanwhile Jean-Claude Trichet was not cleared of legal accusations before 1 June 2002, so he was not able to begin his term after Duisenberg's first four years. Even on 9 July 2003 Trichet was not cleared, and therefore Duisenberg remained in office until 1 November 2003. Duisenberg died on 31 July 2005. Trichet Jean-Claude Trichet became president in 2003 and served during the European sovereign debt crisis. Trichet's strengths lay in keeping consensus and visible calm in the ECB. During his tenure, Trichet has had to fend off criticism from French President Nicolas Sarkozy who demanded a more growth-orientated policy at the ECB. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel supported Trichet in demanding the bank's independence be respected. However, he was also criticised from straying from his mandate during the crisis by buying the government bonds of eurozone member states. ECB board members Axel A. Weber and Jürgen Stark resigned in protest at this policy, even if it helped prevent