In 1921, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia appointed Živković commander of the Royal Guard, but he was briefly demoted due to accusations by a young guardsman that he tried to seduce him.[3] In 1929 he was appointed Prime Minister as part of the 6 January Dictatorship.[4] General Živković was Bogoljub Jevtić's brother-in-law, the closest adviser to the head of State.
Živković held the office as a member of the Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy (JRSD), which became the only legal party in Yugoslavia, following electoral reforms. As a Prime Minister he did not enjoy high regard by either the military or among other politicians not only due to his widely rumoured homosexuality.[5] He resigned as prime minister in 1932, and shortly thereafter founded the Yugoslav National Party (JNS), becoming its president in 1936.