Chapter 2 examines the Islamic Republic’s first five presidential elections, which were held in the revolution’s first decade. These elections brought to power Abolhassan Banisadr (1980), Mohammad-Ali Rajai (1981), Ali Khamenei (1981 and 1985) and Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1989). This chapter highlights how presidential elections in this milieu were highly influenced by Khomeini’s religious revolutionary ethos, as reflected in the chapter’s title: ‘The Age of the Imam’. This ethos was pervasive and far from a distinguishing feature of the triumphant Islamic Republican Party (IRP). It was a characteristic of the age and its zeitgeist. Undoubtedly, there were disagreements, but these were framed and expressed in the context of revolutionary religiosity. Although the fifth election was held after the death of Khomeini in July 1989, it is included in this chapter as it was also guided by Khomeini's revolutionary principles. This chapter, and its focus on Khomeini’s religious revolutionary ethos, frames the ensuing transformation of electoral discourses and imaginaries in the post-Khomeini era.

Chapter 2 “Expansion ( February 11–November 6, 1979)” examines how RJ safeguarded its existence, promoted its expansion, and undermined its opponents through its interactions with government officials and institutions. In an effort to gain and maximize recognition, responsibilities, and resources from the state, RJ exploited its dual structure by lobbying the Islamic Republican Parry (IRP) and the revolutionary council (shūrā-i inqilābī), and circumvented the center-left and the bureaucracy – which sought to restrict the organization’s expansion for ideological and political reasons. To the disapproval of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan (1907–97) and the center-left, RJ members influenced Khomeini and the IRP to endorse RJ’s official establishment as a revolutionary organization and a parallel institution to the bureaucracy between June 16 and 17, 1979. RJ further undermined and marginalized the center-left by manipulating and exacerbating its political and ideological differences with the IRP, culminating in Bazargan’s resignation, President Abolhassan Banisadr’s (b. 1933) impeachment, and the IRP’s control of the state.