Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar chose Craveiro Lopes as the regime's presidential candidate in
1951 to succeed the late
Óscar Carmona. Initially, he was to run in what would have been only the second contested election of the
Estado Novo, when naval officer
Manuel Quintão Meireles filed to run against him. However, Quintão Meireles withdrew before election day, and Craveiro Lopes was elected unopposed. Under the Constitution, the president was vested with near-dictatorial powers. In practice, Carmona had mostly turned over the government to Salazar. However, Craveiro Lopes was not willing to give Salazar the free hand that Carmona had given him. Despite this, he did not go as far as to dismiss Salazar; for all intents and purposes, the president's power to sack the prime minister was the only check on Salazar's power. Nevertheless, Salazar picked the seemingly more pliant naval minister,
Américo Tomás, as the regime's candidate in 1958. The Democratic Opposition then invited Craveiro Lopes to be their candidate, but he knew he stood no chance of winning and refused. The regime, however, as compensation promoted him to
Marshal. He was involved in the failed military attempt to overthrow Salazar in 1961, led by the Defence Minister
Júlio Botelho Moniz. He died in Lisbon on 2 September 1964. == State visits ==