Benito Juárez

Benito Juárez (1806-72), national hero and president of Mexico (1861-63 and 1867-72).

Juárez was born of Native American parents on March 21, 1806, near the town of Oaxaca de Juárez. Educated in law, Juárez became (1847) governor of the state of Oaxaca and was imprisoned when the Mexican general Antonio de Santa Anna seized (1853) the national government. He escaped to New Orleans, Louisiana, but returned to Mexico in 1855 to take part in the revolution that overthrew Santa Anna. Juárez became minister of justice in the new government and instituted a series of liberal reforms that were embodied in the constitution of 1857.

The following year Juárez became provisional president after the outbreak of a revolt led by conservative elements. Soon afterward he was forced to flee the national capital, Mexico City, and established a new seat of government at Veracruz. He initiated a number of sweeping reforms, including the reduction of the civil power of the Roman Catholic church by confiscating ecclesiastical property. He defeated the conservative forces in 1860 and 1861, when he established his government in Mexico City and was constitutionally elected president.

Facing financial chaos caused by five years of civil war, Juárez suspended payments to foreign creditors in 1861. France, Spain, and Britain intervened, however, and landed troops at Veracruz. Juárez reached a settlement with Britain and Spain; those countries withdrew from Mexico, but the French remained and captured Mexico City. Maximilian, archduke of Austria, the puppet of Emperor Napoleon III of France, was crowned emperor of Mexico in 1864. Juárez moved his capital to the north and continued military resistance. When Maximilian's government fell in 1867, Juárez returned to Mexico City and was reelected president. In 1871 the statesman Porfirio Díaz, an unsuccessful political candidate against Juárez, began a revolt that eventually was quelled, but Juárez died of apoplexy on July 18, 1872, in Mexico City, before the end of the uprising. He is regarded as one of the greatest heroes in Mexican history.