Presidential elections under the
Estado Novo regime was held for the last time on 25 July 1972, the only one not controlled by late
Prime MinisterAntónio de Oliveira Salazar, with the
last elections for the National Assembly held the following year, less than a year before the
Carnation Revolution. Incumbent President and former Naval Minister
Américo Tomás of the ruling
People's National Action was the sole candidate, and was re-elected unopposed by the regime-dominated
National Assembly for a third seven-year term, which would have ended on 25 July 1979.