major Mexican political leaders since

1824

Yesenia Cruz

Political Leaders

Guadalupe Victoria

Born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto

Fernádez y Félix

September 29, 1786 - March 21,

1843

Fought against Spain in the War

of Independence

First president of Mexico

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Born Antonio de Padua María

Severino López de Santa Anna y

Pérez de Lebrón

21 February 1794 - 21 June 1876

Originally fought against the

Independence of Spain but then

supported it

Appointed by Guerrero as

governor of the state of Yucatan in

1824

Benito Juárez

March 21, 1806 - July 18, 1872

Served five terms as president of Mexico

First full-blooded indigenous president without a military background

Fought against the French occupation

Brought back the Republic

Advocated equal rights

Lessened the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico

His period is known as La Reforma

Political Leaders Porfirio Díaz

September 15, 1830 - July 2, 1915

President of Mexico from 1876 to 1911, except in 1880-84

Considered a dictator by historians

Lost power during the Mexican Revolution

Forced from office by Madero and fled to France

Francisco I. Madero

October 30, 1873 - February 22, 1913

President from 1911 to 1913

Founded the Benito JuárezDemocratic Club

Led the Anti-Reelection movement

Created the Department of Labor and regulated business practices

Vincente Guerrero

Born Vincente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña

August 10, 1782 - February 14, 1831

Fought against Spain in the War of Independence

Served as president of Mexico for a short period in 1829

Executed by Vice President Bustamante for bribery

Mexicans loyal to Guerrero revolted against Bustamante

Victoriano Huerta

December 22, 1850 - January 13, 1916

President of Mexico after he had Lascuráinassume Presidency then resign an hour later

Began a strict military dictatorship

President Woodrow Wilson put U.S. troops in Mexico to occupy Veracruz as a show of force

Huerta’s Federal Army was defeated several times by Obregón and PanchoVilla’s, especially in the Battle of Zacatecas

Resigned on July 15, 1914

Political Leaders Venustian Carranza

December 29, 1859 - May 21, 1920

Born Venustiano Carranza de la Garza

President of Mexico after Huerta resigned in 1914, president during the Zimmerman telegraph - kept Mexico neutral during WWI

One of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution

Declared the liberal 1857 Constitution of Mexico to be respected

Parral by seven rifle men

Death was the result of a conspiracy

Lázardo Cárdenas

May 21, 1985 - October 19, 1970

Born Lázaro Cárdenas del Río

President of Mexico from 1934 - 1940

Wouldn’t be controlled by Former president Calles’ corruption

Cut presidential salary in half

Had corrupt associates thrown in jail and/or deported

Revered by the Mexican people

The end of Capital Punishment

Respected for being fearless

Francisco Pancho Villa

June 5, 1878 - July 20, 1923

Born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula

Commander of the División del Norte

Governor of Chihuaha in 1913 - 1914

Robbed and hijacked trains to fund his cause

Fought against Huerta

Falling out with Carrana

Eventually betrayed by Americans when President Wilson backed Carranza to be the one to establish a stable government

Involved in many battles

Assassinated while running an errand in

Manuel Á v ila Camacho

24 April, 1897 - 13 October, 1955

President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946

Renamed the PRM to the PRI

Election day was skeptical with fraud

Dealt with WWII

Declared war against Axis powers after Mexican oil ships were destroyed by German U-boats

Gave U.S. 300,000 workers during the Bracero Program

Diplomacy with the UK and Soviets

Signed the United Nations Charter

Political Leader

Emiliano Zapata

August 8, 1879 - April 10, 1919

Born Emiliano Zapata Salazar

Poster-boy for the Mexican Revolution against Porfirio Díaz

Came from a Mestizo family

Díaz’s land reforms went into haciendas which invaded peoples lands

Spoke with people about defending their land

Fought for the rights of the campesinos of Morelos

Oversaw the redistribution of land from some haciendas and landowners but problems emerged

Fought for the rights of villagers

Allied with Francisco I. Madero

Became a general of an army in Morelos: the Ejército Libertador del Sur

Jumped on Madero’s campaign against President Díaz

Zapata and Madero had a falling out

Became the Supreme Chief of the Revolutionary Movement of the South

Assassinated by hit-men for Guajardo

Maximilian I of Mexico

6 July 1832 - 19 June 1867

Proclaimed Emperor of Mexico during the Second Mexican Empire after being proposed the title by Mexican monarchists and with pressure from Napoleon III

Captured and sentenced to death by firing squad

Believed he died for the good of Mexico

Political Leader Álvaro Obregón

Born Álvaro Obregón Salidoa

February 19, 1880 - July 17, 1928

President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924

Assassinated in 1928

Minister of War in Preconstitutional Regime of Carranza

Modernized and refurbished the Mexican military

PRI party

Nationalized electric companies

In 1959 he began the National Commission for Free Textbooks

Promoted museums like the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and the Museum of Natural History

Carried out Land reform

Public health campaigns to fight against polio, malaria, and T.B.

Fought against poverty and set up social-welfare programs and improved existing ones

Increased the pensions for health care

Developed a food distribution system for the poor

Created a market for farm produce

Low-cost housing budget program in industrial cities

Adolfo López Mateos

Plutarco Calles

September 25, 1877 - October 19, 1945

Born Plutarco Elías Calles

President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928

Ruled behind the scenes for two more presidencies

Began the Cristero War against the Catholic rebels

Founded the PNR (now PRI)

Supported by labor and peasant unions

Laborist party and CROM support

Changed civil code by giving illegitimate youth the same rights as legitimate ones

He was the child of unmarried parents

Drafted new oil laws which enforced Article 27 of the Mexican constitution

Political Leaders Ernesto Zedillo

Born December 27, 1951

Born Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León

President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000

The last president from the National Revolutionary Party to the PRI

Supported macroeconomic policies

Launched a Science and Technology reformation

Entered the Presidency at the beginning of an economic crisis

“ Well-being for your family”

Created the Progresa program

Currently works at Yale University in the U.S. and teaches economics

Vicente Fox

Born July 2, 1942

Born Vicente Fox Quesada

President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006

Excellent public speaker

Told Castro in Cuba to watch his mouth and Castro called him “despicable and treacherous”

Angered many African-Americans with something he said

Wrote an autobiography titled, Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President

Felipe Calder on

Born August 18, 1962

Born Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa

Current President of Mexico, 2006 - Present

Member of PAN

Opposes euthanasia, unrestricted abortion, and gay marriage

Will continue foreign policy

Expected to mediate free market with other Latin American nations

Opposed the U.S. building a border wall

Ordered raids on drug cartels, raised public security officers wages, ordered military into major drug trafficking cities

Carlos Salinas de Gortari

Born April 3, 1948

President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994

PRI party

Threatened the PRI who had won all previous elections through fraud since beginning in 1929

“ The system fell.” Suspicious voting computer shutdowns during election.

Restored relationships with the Roman Catholic Church and Vatican State

Changed land property legislation

Negotiated the NAFTA with the U.S. and Canada