First Lady of Mexico
First Lady of Mexico | |
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Flag of Mexico | |
Residence | Los Pinos |
Term length | 6 years |
Inaugural holder | Virginia Salinas de Carranza |
Formation | 1917 |
First Lady of Mexico (Spanish: Primera Dama de Mexico, Primera Dama de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is the unofficial title of the wife of the President of Mexico. The post is highly ceremonial and in fact once caused severe controversy when it was thought that the First Lady took too much involvement in their husband's post.
María Flores de Lascuráin, spouse of President Pedro Lascuráin, was Mexico and the world's briefest ever First Lady, since her husband served as president for less than an hour. However, since the title is not official in Mexico (unlike other Latin American countries), this fact is not actually acknowledged.
Role of the First Lady
The first lady is not an elected position, carries no official duties and brings no salary. Nonetheless she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president. There is a strict taboo against the First Lady holding outside employment while occupying the office. Usually the First Lady takes an important (ceremonial) post as head of the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) ("Integral Family Development"). However this did not occur during the Fox Administration when First Lady Marta Sahagún founded the national philanthropic organization Vamos México.
Two First Ladies have been active politicians: Martha Sahagún who married Vicente Fox during his tenure (2002–2006) had been a party activist and candidate for Presidenta Municipal of Celaya on the PAN party ticket, and was briefly considered a contender for PAN's nomination to run for either the Jefe de Gobernacíon (Governor of the Federal District) or President in the 2006 election. Margarita Zavala, wife of Felipe Calderón, was a deputy from 2003 to 2006.
Angelica Rivera is the wife of current president Enrique Peña Nieto.
First Ladies of Mexico
This is a list of the post-Revolutionary era First Ladies of Mexico.
Portrait | Name | President | Period |
---|---|---|---|
Virginia Salinas de Carranza | Venustiano Carranza | 1917–1920 | |
Clara Oriol de de la Huerta | Adolfo de la Huerta | June 1, 1920-November 30, 1920 | |
María Tapia de Obregón | Álvaro Obregón | 1920-1924 (1928[1]) | |
Natalia Chacón de Elías | Plutarco Elías Calles | 1924–1928 | |
Carmen García de Portes | Emilio Portes Gil | 1928–1930 | |
Josefina Ortiz | Pascual Ortiz Rubio | 1930–1932 | |
Aída Sullivan de Rodríguez | Abelardo L. Rodríguez | 1932–1934 | |
Amalia Solórzano de Cárdenas | Lázaro Cárdenas | 1934–1940 | |
Soledad Orozco de Ávila | Manuel Ávila Camacho | 1940–1946 | |
Beatriz Velasco de Alemán | Miguel Alemán Valdés | 1946–1952 | |
María Dolores Izaguirre de Ruiz | Adolfo Ruiz Cortines | 1952–1958 | |
Eva Sámano de López | Adolfo López Mateos | 1958–1964 | |
Guadalupe Borja de Díaz Ordaz | Gustavo Díaz Ordaz | 1964–1970 | |
María Esther Zuno de Echeverría | Luis Echeverría | 1970–1976 | |
Carmen Romano de López Portillo | José López Portillo | 1976–1982 | |
Paloma Cordero de de la Madrid | Miguel de la Madrid | 1982–1988 | |
Cecilia Ocelli de Salinas | Carlos Salinas de Gortari | 1988–1994 | |
Nilda Patricia Velasco de Zedillo | Ernesto Zedillo | 1994–2000 | |
Marta Sahagún de Fox | Vicente Fox | July 2, 2001–2006[2] | |
Margarita Zavala | Felipe Calderón | 2006–2012 | |
Angélica Rivera | Enrique Peña Nieto | 2012–Present |
Notes
- ↑ President Obregón was assassinated just after being reelected and declared President Elect, thus he was never sworn in, and therefore she did not assume the role.
- ↑ The post was vacant from December 1, 2000 to July 1, 2001 (since Vicente Fox was unmarried upon assumption of the presidency), until July 2, 2001 when he wed Martha Sahagun, who would then assume the role.
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