Francisco I. Madero
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. |
| Francisco I. Madero | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office November 6, 1911 – February 18, 1913 |
|
| Vice President | José María Pino Suárez |
| Preceded by | Francisco León de la Barra |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Lascuráin |
|
|
|
| Born | October 30, 1873 Parras, Coahuila |
| Died | February 22, 1913 (aged 39) Mexico City |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Political party | Anti-reelectionist Party |
| Spouse | Sara Pérez |
Francisco Ignacio Madero González (October 30, 1873 – February 22, 1913) was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce. However, once Díaz was deposed, the Mexican Revolution quickly spun out of Madero's control. He was deposed and executed by the Porfirista military and his aides that he neglected to replace with revolutionary supporters. His assassination was followed by the most violent period of the revolution (1913-1917) until the Constitution of 1917 and revolutionary president Venustiano Carranza achieved some degree of stability.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
He was born in Parras, Coahuila; the son of Francisco Indalecio Madero Hernández and Mercedes González Treviño. Some people say his middle initial, I, stood for Indalecio but according to his birth certificate it stood for Ignacio. His family was one of the richest families in Mexico but he never embraced the bourgeois life. Madero was educated in Baltimore, Versailles, Austria and at the University of California, Berkeley.
Affected by the plight of the poor under the dictator Porfirio Díaz, in 1904, Madero became involved in politics with the Benito Juárez Democratic Club.
Madero was a vegetarian and liberal who feared that the existing regime under Díaz would inevitably breed true social revolution, a fear that proved accurate with the subsequent rise of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa. He was imprisoned as a result of his struggle for human rights. He escaped to the United States of America but was smuggled into Mexicali, Baja California, by the Pérez Gutiérrez family so he could marry the love of his life, Sara Pérez Gutiérrez. He proposed that Díaz offer concessions to peasants and the proletariat to promote a climate of order and stability from which both foreign and domestic elites would benefit. Madero also hoped such concessions would curb the growth of radical ideas.
Madero believed in spiritualism. He claimed to communicate with his deceased brother Raul.
[edit] The Revolution
During the election of 1910, Madero (Anti-Reelectionist) ran against Díaz. Madero's campaign was aided by his young wife, Sara Pérez Gutiérrez de Madero. Their efforts and ideals earned him the title "Apostle of Democracy". Díaz had already promised a democratic election, proclaiming that Mexico was ready for democracy (Díaz - Creelman interview, 1908.). However during the election, Díaz had Madero and approximately 5,000 other members of the Anti-Reelectionists jailed. Francisco Vázquez Gómez took over the nomination, and during Madero's time in jail, Díaz was declared president with an electoral vote of 196 to 187. Madero's father had posted substantial bail, and Madero was able to take daily rides around San Luis Potosí by day, accompanied by guards. On October 4, 1910, Madero crossed the border to Laredo, Texas, and then moved to San Antonio. There he wrote and issued his Plan of San Luis Potosi, which proclaimed the elections of 1910 null and void, and called for an armed revolution at 6 p.m. on November 20, 1910 against the illegitimate presidency/dictadorship of Díaz. Madero eluded pursuers by moving to New Orleans and then to Dallas. Meanwhile, the Revolution spread, and Francisco Villa occupied Chihuahua, Chihuahua, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The overthrow of Díaz was accomplished on 17 May, when Madero signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, in which he demanded the resignation of Díaz as a condition for an armistice. Díaz resigned on May 25, 1911.
Madero appointed Francisco León de la Barra as interim president. León de la Barra was strongly conservative and acted to neutralize the more radical ideas of the Revolution. Madero's actions created a rift between him and many of his former allies, including Emiliano Zapata, who felt that Madero was not pushing hard enough for land reform. To protest Madero's apparent lack of interest in pursuing Zapata's goals, Zapata issued the Plan of Ayala on November 25, 1911.
[edit] Fall and execution
In early 1913 Victoriano Huerta, the commander of the armed forces, conspired with Félix Díaz (Porfirio Díaz's nephew), Bernardo Reyes and US Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, against Madero, which culminated in a ten-day battle known as La decena tragica (the Tragic Ten Days). Madero accepted Huerta's "protection" from the Diaz/Reyes forces, only to have Huerta betray and arrest him. Madero's brother and advisor Gustavo A. Madero was kidnapped off the street, tortured, and killed. Following Huerta's coup d'état on February 18, 1913, Madero was forced to resign. After a very brief term of office by Pedro Lascuráin, Huerta took over the Presidency later that day. Francisco Madero was shot four days later, aged 39. The Huerta government claimed that bodyguards were forced to shoot Madero and Vice President Pino Suárez, during a failed rescue attempt by Madero's supporters. This story was met with general incredulity.
[edit] Miscellany
| Preceded by Francisco León de la Barra For Porfirio Díaz |
President of Mexico 1911–1913 |
Succeeded by Pedro Lascuráin For Victoriano Huerta |
|
|||||||||||
