Originally styled President of the Council of Ministers, the office was first created in 1862 during the reign of Prince
Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Cuza, unlike other monarchs of his time, was not a hereditary ruler. In 1859, he was elected Prince of
Wallachia and Prince of
Moldavia in two separate elections, thus de facto uniting the two principalities. By 1862, he had completely fused the two administrations into a single government with its capital at
Bucharest, the new country bearing the name Romania, but the union was in danger of being dissolved after the end of his rule. A liberal, in favour of the two great reform projects envisioned by the
liberals of the time (the electoral and agrarian reforms), Cuza did not publicly espouse his political preferences or position himself as the leader of a faction, preferring to keep the office of the Prince politically neutral. To give the country a political government, Cuza created the office of prime minister and brought into power the leader of the Conservative faction,
Barbu Catargiu. During the first years after its creation, the office held considerable authority, being able to challenge the will of the Prince and together with a Legislative Assembly composed mainly of conservatives and reactionaries, Catargiu's conservative government was able to delay the adoption of several reforms. Frustrated by the government's opposition to reforms and unable to work with an Assembly dominated by reactionary forces due to the censitary nature of the electoral system, Cuza launched a
coup d'etat, followed by a
constitutional referendum that replaced the Convention of Paris, an act that served as the constitution of the country, with his version named the Statute expanding the Paris Convention (). The new constitution created the
Senate for serving Cuza's legislative purposes and vested the office of the Prince with full executive authority while the prime minister remained his subordinate. Even though Cuza now had plenary powers, the office of the prime minister remained influential, and
Mihail Kogălniceanu, the third prime minister, a liberal and former ally of Cuza, often clashed with him. After Cuza's removal by coup d'état in 1866 by a coalition formed by both members of the liberal and conservative factions, the political forces of the time settled on two objectives: bringing a foreign prince from a European noble family onto the country's throne and drafting a liberal constitution. The 1866 Constitution confirmed that the prime minister served at the pleasure of the Prince, the latter being able to appoint and dismiss the former at any time and for any reason. Nevertheless, the prime minister still held considerable influence. After
World War I led to the creation of
Greater Romania, another constitution was drafted in
1923 to reflect the changes the Romanian state had undergone since the
Treaty of Versailles and the
Treaty of Trianon. The new constitution limited the powers of the King, vesting the executive power entirely in the prime minister and his Cabinet, who now governed in the King's name after the latter appointed him. The new constitution also made the first steps towards a parliamentary control of the government, stipulating that either of the chambers may put ministers under accusation to stand trial. == Office headquarters ==