Luis Muñoz Marín
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| Luis Muñoz Marín | |
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| In office January 2, 1949 – January 2, 1965 |
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| Preceded by | none |
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| Succeeded by | Roberto Sánchez Vilella |
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| Born | February 18, 1898 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Died | April 30, 1980 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | Popular Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Inés Mendoza |
| Profession | Journalist, Politician, Poet |
José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898 – April 30, 1980) was a poet, journalist and politician. He was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico and considered one of the most important twentieth century political figures in the Americas. He worked closely with the Government of the United States for the creation of a Constitution for Puerto Rico that would create a more favorable environment in which the island could achieve progress both economically and politically. Muñoz served for sixteen years as Governor and his achievements made him worthy of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1962 and of the title "Father of the Modern Puerto Rico".
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[edit] Early Years
Born José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín at 152 Fortaleza street in Old San Juan, he was the son of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera, and Doña Amalia Marín Castilla. Luis Muñoz Marín's early years were spent with frequent travels between the United States and Puerto Rico. His father founded the newspaper the "Puerto Rico Herald" in New York and in 1910 was elected Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States Congress.
In 1911 Muñoz began his studies at the Georgetown Preparatory School, in Washington D.C.. In 1915 he began his Law studies at Georgetown University but was forced to return to Puerto Rico after his father became ill. Luis Muñoz Rivera died November 15, 1916.
On July 1, 1919 he married American writer Muna Lee. [1] Lee, who hailed from Raymond, Mississippi, was a leading Southern feminist and a rising writer of Pan-American poetry. During their marriage they had two children: Muna Muñoz Lee (also known as Munita) and Luis Muñoz Lee.[2] Due to several periods of trial separation and infidelity on his part, she and Muñoz Marín were divorced on November 15, 1946. The following day, on November 16, 1946, Muñoz Marín married his long-time lover Inés Mendoza, whom he had been carrying an affair with since 1935.
[edit] Political career
In 1920 Muñoz Marín joined the Puerto Rican Socialist Party headed by Santiago Iglesias Pantín. During this time he advocated for Puerto Rican Independence from the United States and sympathized with the Puerto Rican worker, who in his views was being neglected by the political forces of the time.
[edit] Senator
In 1932 he joined the Liberal Party (Partido Liberal), founded by Antonio R. Barceló and would lead the party's official newspaper, "La Democracia". As a journalist, one of his memorable quotes was "The press can improve government, but government cannot improve the press." On March 13, 1932, Muñoz was nominated by the party for the post of Senator. Antonio R. Barceló and Muñoz where elected senators in the 1932 elections for the 1933-1937 term.
In 1937 political disagreements between Muñoz and Antonio R. Barceló led to the expulsion of Muñoz Marín from the Liberal Party. He would then create a group named, the Social Independence Action ("Acción Social Independentista" known as "ASI") which would later give rise to the "Partido Liberal Neto, Auténtico y Completo" in opposition to the Liberal Party which Antonio R. Barceló headed.
Luis Muñoz Marín would help create the Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democratico - PPD) in 1938. Muñoz concentrated his political campaigning in the rural areas of Puerto Rico. He attacked the then common practice of paying off rural farm workers to influence their vote. During his campaign he met Inés María Mendoza who would later become his second wife.
[edit] President of the Senate
In 1940 the PPD won a slight but surprising victory in the Puerto Rican Senate, a victory which was attributed to the campaigning he did in the rural areas. Muñoz Marín was then elected the fourth President of the Senate.
During his term as President of the Senate, Muñoz was an advocate of the worker class of Puerto Rico. Along with Governor Rexford G. Tugwell, the last non-Puerto Rican appointed Governor of Puerto Rico by an American President, and the republican-socialist coalition which headed the House of Representatives, he would help advance legislation geared towards agricultural reform, economic recovery and industrialization. He backed legislation to limit the amount of land a company could own. In 1944 the PDP repeated the political victory of the previous elections.
After Congress approved legislation in 1947 allowing Puerto Ricans to elect their own Governor, Muñoz successfully campaigned for the post, thus becoming only the second Puerto Rican and the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. He officially took office on January 2, 1949.
[edit] Governor
Muñoz held the post of Governor for sixteen years, being re-elected again in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 elections. During the 1960 elections, Catholic bishops ruled it would be a sin to vote for PPD candidates due to the party's policy on birth control and disallowing religious teachings in public schools.
During his terms as governor, a Constitutional Assembly was convened in which the Constitution of Puerto Rico was drafted. It was approved by the United States Congress in 1952.
In the 1950s, an ambitious industrialization project dubbed "Operation Bootstrap" was envisioned. It was coupled with a program of agrarian reform (land redistribution) which limited the area that could be held by large sugarcane interests. In the first forty years of this century, Puerto Rico's dominant economic product were sugarcane byproducts (sugar and molasses) for mainly U.S. market. Operation Bootstrap enticed U.S. mainland investors to transfer or create manufactoring plants by granting them local and federal tax concessions, but maintaining the access to US markets free of import duties. Another incentive was were the lower wage scales in the densely populated island, which had a rising urban unemployed population.
The program accelerated the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society; and, today, sugar production plays a relatively minor role in the island's economy. The 1950s saw the development of labor-intensive light industries, such as textiles; manufacturing later gave way to heavy industry, such as petrochemicals and oil refining, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Muñoz Marín's development programs brought some prosperity for an emergent middle class. The industrialization was in part fueled by generous local incentives, and freedom from federal taxation, while providing access to continental US markets without import duties. A rural agricultural society was transformed into an industrial working class. Although initially touted as an economic miracle, Operation Bootstrap by the 1960s was increasingly hampered by a growing unemployment problem. As living standards and wages rose, manpower-intensive industries faced competition from outside the United States.
Muñoz Marín also launched "Operación Serenidad" (Operation Serenity), a series of projects geared towards promoting education and appreciation of the arts.
His reversal on not pursuing Puerto Rican Independence angered some Puerto Ricans, including nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos. On October 30, 1950 a group of Puerto Rican nationalists staged a revolt which included an attack on the governor's mansion – La Fortaleza –, the United States Capitol and at Blair House, where United States President Harry S. Truman was staying during a renovation of the White House. These acts led Muñoz to crack down on Puerto Rican Nationalists and advocates of Puerto Rican Independence. This actions by both Muñoz and the United States' Government would later be determined as infringing on constitutional rights. [citation needed]
In 1964, he chose not to run for another term, leaving his party's candidacy to his Secretary of State, Roberto Sánchez Vilella who would go on to be elected Governor.
[edit] Retirement, death and legacy
After leaving the post of Governor, Muñoz Marín would continue his public service as a member of the Puerto Rico Senate until 1970. In 1968, Muñoz had a serious dispute with Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella. Muñoz, who was still an influential figure inside the Popular Democratic Party, decided to deny Governor Sánchez the opportunity to run for another term in 1968. Governor Sánchez then purchased the franchise of The People's Party (Partido del Pueblo) and decided to run for governor under this new Party. Many members of the Popular Democratic Party voted for Sánchez, thus leading to the PPD's first electoral defeat ever, and the election of Luis A. Ferre, a statehooder, as Governor. Muñoz Marín and Sánchez Vilella's friendship was severely strained after this.
After resigning his Senate seat in 1970, Muñoz traveled all over Europe and met with many political figures of the time. He returned to Puerto Rico in 1972 to promote the gubernatorial candidacy of Senate President Rafael Hernández Colón, the new leader of the Popular Democratic Party.
On April 30, 1980 Luis Muñoz Marín died at the age of 82, after suffering complications from a severe stroke. His funeral became an island-wide event, dwarfing his own father's funeral in 1916, and attended by tens of thousands of followers.
Muñoz's tenure as governor saw immense changes in Puerto Rico. The island was shifting from mainly rural to an urban society; second-generation Puerto Ricans in the continental states now equal or outnumber those from the island. Puerto Rico achieved degrees of autonomy it never had seen; a constitution was written. However, to some, the idealist and nationalist of Muñoz's youth had required a Faustian accommodation with the might and wealth of United States. To some, Muñoz had abandoned the youthful adherence to Puerto Rican Independence and instead cemented Puerto Rico's colonial status. Others see Luis Muñoz Marín as the person who heralded the modern Puerto Rico. Others fault his strategies was to seek reduction in the growth of population by 1) encouraging migrant labor in US which lead to large urban, mainly poor, Puerto Rican neighborhoods in the Northeast, and 2) by encouraging family planning measures.
Marín was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on December 6, 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and was featured twice on the cover of Time Magazine. The articles called him "one of the most influential politicians in recent times, whose works will be remembered for years to come." In 1957 Marín received a LL.D. from Bates College.
His daughter Victoria Muñoz Mendoza, also became involved in the politics of Puerto Rico, and in 1992 made an unsuccessful bid for Governor. The main civil airport on the island of Puerto Rico bears his name – Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport – as well as other educational institutions.
| Preceded by Jesús T. Piñero |
Governor of Puerto Rico 1949-1965 |
Succeeded by Roberto Sánchez Vilella |
| Popular Democratic Party Gubernatorial Nominees | |
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| Muñoz Marín | Sánchez Vilella | Negrón López | Hernández Colón | Muñoz Mendoza | Acevedo | Calderón | Hernández Mayoral | Acevedo Vilá |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- 1949 Time Magazine Cover featuring Luis Muñoz Marín
- 1958 Time Magazine Cover featuring Luis Muñoz Marín
