The Chancellor, also referenced as Supreme Chancellor or Chief of State, served as the head of state for the New Republic. It is important to note that this chancellor was not a true chief executive; instead, the role was primarily ceremonial, possessing limited real authority. However, a chancellor did retain certain discretionary powers.
With the formation of the New Republic, Mon Mothma was elected to the position. Because this was a legal continuation of the Supreme Chancellor role from the previous Galactic Republic, Mothma technically followed Sheev Palpatine. However, she eliminated the emergency powers that her predecessor had accumulated and accepted limitations designed to prevent any chancellor from gaining significant power, thus losing control over the Galactic Senate. Mothma's successors continued this approach after her term concluded.
Nevertheless, contrasting viewpoints arose from the two main political groups within the Senate, typically known as the Centrists and the Populists. They debated whether a new and more powerful title should replace the chancellor, which would have been responsible for restoring order to the fractured government. Ultimately, this discussion failed to reach a consensus, and the election for the position was postponed without a set date.
In 32 ABY, Lanever Villecham secured the chancellorship. As a proponent of the New Republic's peaceful policies, Villecham prioritized strengthening trade relationships with neutral star systems rather than engaging in a military build-up against the First Order. This approach ultimately led to the destruction of the Hosnian system, where the chancellor died, and the subsequent invasion of the galaxy by the First Order.
The chancellorship was intentionally designed with limited central authority. The office's restricted powers mirrored those established during the Ruusan Reformations, meaning it was not a true chief executive. Restrictions were put in place to stop any chancellor from accumulating too much power. The chancellor's authority originated from the charter of Chancellor, which formally designated the chancellery as the Supreme Chancellor and empowered them to lead the Galactic Senate. A chancellor's duties included officially representing the New Republic, receiving foreign dignitaries, and negotiating treaties with other governments.
Mon Mothma, the first New Republic chancellor, inherited the emergency powers previously held by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. Having consistently opposed the expansion of the chancellor's powers throughout the Clone Wars, and eager to distance her new government from Palpatine's, Mothma sought to eliminate these emergency powers from her position. Despite granting her the authority to deploy New Republic forces into combat wherever she chose, she rejected such responsibility, viewing it as detrimental to democracy. Instead, she deferred to the Senate's decisions, even in military matters like the disarmament of the New Republic Defense Fleet.
The origins of the chancellorship can be traced back to the Galactic Republic. The Supreme Chancellor there led the Galactic Senate and served as the head of state for the Republic. Tarsus Valorum became the first Supreme Chancellor after the fall of the Old Republic, an event that saw the Sith defeated by the Jedi Order. The Ruusan Reformations then placed limits on the Supreme Chancellor's power.
During the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine amassed increasing executive powers. By the war's end, he possessed enough power to transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire and declare himself the sovereign ruler of the galaxy.
The Alliance to Restore the Republic also utilized the position, granting former senator Mon Mothma the rank of chancellor as the Alliance's civilian leader.
After the death of Emperor Palpatine during the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance established the New Republic, and the Galactic Senate reconvened on Mothma's homeworld of Chandrila. While Mothma was elected as the New Republic's first chancellor, she technically succeeded Palpatine due to the charter of chancellor, which included the emergency powers previously granted to her predecessor during the Clone Wars. However, she intended to abolish these powers, viewing them as a threat to democracy. Shortly after her election, Mothma eliminated the emergency powers granted by the chancellery's charter. Mothma also planned to propose a significant military disarmament following the end of the Galactic Civil War, aiming to reduce the New Republic Defense Force by ninety percent. The remaining ten percent would focus on training and supporting local militias. She intended to present these proposals to the New Republic Senate for consideration.
With the war's conclusion and the signing of the Galactic Concordance, the peace treaty with the Empire, her proposal was realized through the Military Disarmament Act. Despite some debate about Coruscant's future role in the New Republic, it was ultimately decided that the Galactic Senate would convene on a rotational basis among member worlds, as part of Chancellor Mothma's ongoing reforms. This decision helped convince star systems that the New Republic would differ from its predecessors. Nevertheless, Coruscant retained some government operations due to its existing infrastructure for managing the galaxy.
Mothma's ability to forge political consensus during her term allowed the New Republic to establish itself as a stable power. However, after her term ended, her successors struggled to replicate that consensus, which Senator Leia Organa attributed to Mothma's leadership charisma. By 28 ABY, the Centrists and Populists had emerged as distinct political factions with differing opinions on the role of the central government and the executive's power. Lady Carise Sindian, a Centrist, proposed abolishing the chancellorship and rewriting the Republic's constitution to establish a new position: First Senator. This position, she argued, would have significant authority over economics and the military. A heated debate ensued between those who favored a strong central authority and those who feared that a First Senator could lead to the rise of another emperor.
Senator Organa became a leading candidate for First Senator, despite her reservations about the office's creation. However, her candidacy was undermined when her political adversaries, including Senator Ransolm Casterfo and Lady Carise, revealed that she was the daughter of the late Sith Lord Darth Vader. Senator Tai-Lin Garr replaced her as the populist candidate, but Garr was soon assassinated. Consequently, the vote to abolish the chancellorship was delayed, and both parties agreed to postpone the election for First Senator indefinitely.
In 32 ABY, Lanever Villecham, senator of the Tarsunt system, was elected chancellor. A firm believer in the New Republic's peace initiatives, he continued to pursue peaceful relations with the First Order during the Cold War, provided they adhered to the Galactic Concordance. Instead of military expansion, he focused on strengthening trade ties with neutral worlds in the Trans-Hydian Borderlands, which had been alienated from the Republic for decades. Villecham also had to contend with the Resistance, a private military force led by general Leia Organa, which sought evidence of the First Order's violations of the Galactic Concordance.
A year later, Organa dispatched Commander Korr Sella as an envoy to Hosnian Prime, the then capital, to advocate for a military build-up against the First Order on her behalf. Organa believed she would not survive a trip to the Hosnian system. Her fears proved correct when the First Order used its superweapon, Starkiller Base, to target the Republic. The attack destroyed Hosnian Prime, killing Chancellor Villecham and the planet's entire population.
The Senate Guard was a security force tasked with ensuring the safety of the Galactic Senate. Besides protecting senators, the Guard also managed crowd control and provided general security.
The New Republic chancellorship first appeared in Aftermath, a 2015 novel by Chuck Wendig. In the Expanded Universe of books, comics, and games, now known as the non-canon Star Wars Legends brand, the leader of the New Republic was called the Chief of State. Similar to canon, Legends stories also portrayed Mon Mothma as the New Republic's first leader.