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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Benito Juarez Biography JUÁREZ, Hwä'rěs, Benito Pablo (1806–72). A President of the Republic of Mexico. He was born at Guelatao in the State of Oajaca, March 21, 1806, being the child of Indian parents, who died when he was four years old. His education was taken in hand by a charitable merchant of Oajaca, who made it possible for him to graduate at the seminary in that town, after which he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1834. He was appointed judge of the civil court in 1842, and secretary to the Provincial Governor in 1845. Meanwhile revolution and counter-revolution had succeeded one another in the little State of Oajaca, which in 1846 resumed its sovereignty and placed the executive authority in the hands of a triumvirate, which included Juárez. Shortly after the restoration of the federal constitution, in the same year, Juárez was elected to the Constituent Congress and in 1847 was chosen Governor of Oajaca. His administration was, in the true sense of the term, an era of reform. The finances were put upon a sound basis, necessary public works were carried out, and the economic condition of the state improved by the development of its mineral resources. When Juárez left office in 1852, Oajaca was probably the most prosperous state in Mexico. Upon Santa Anna's return to power (1853) Juárez was exiled in revenge for a refusal to lend himself to the dictator's purposes some years earlier. He spent the next two years in great poverty in New Orleans. The revolution against Santa Anna in 1855 made possible his return to Mexico. He joined the revolutionists under General Alvarez, who, upon becoming President, made Juárez Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs. In this capacity he brought about the enactment of a law, known by his name, which suppressed the military and ecclesiastical tribunals and with them all privilege in army and Church. Upon the resignation of Alvarez, in December, 1855, Juárez retired from office, but was named by Comonfort, the successor of Alvarez, provisional Governor of Oajaca, being subsequently chosen to this position by an overwhelming majority. He resigned in 1857, to become Secretary of the Interior and Chief Justice—the latter office being by the terms of the constitution equivalent to the vice presidency of the nation. On the overthrow of Comonfort, in January, 1858, by the party of reaction, Juárez succeeded to the presidency and was recognized by all the Mexican states. The Conservatives, however, took the field, and Juárez was compelled to flee to Guanajuato and then to Guadalajara, finally establishing the seat of government at Vera Cruz, where he arrived May 4 by way of Acapulco, the Isthmus of Panama, Havana, and New Orleans. In virtue of his executive authority, he had set up a cabinet, and he proceeded to issue decrees embodying the reforms which had been instituted by Comonfort. His government was recognized by the United States. In the civil war which ensued Juárez's authority was for a time reduced to the city of Vera Cruz, but finally the Liberals gained the upper hand. Juárez's rival, General Miramón, was defeated at Calpulalpam, Dec. 22, 1860, and on Jan. 11, 1861, Juárez entered the city of Mexico. In March he was elected President for four years. Trouble, however, was at hand. The government was bankrupt. Even the confiscation of Church lands failed to remedy the situation, and the decree of July 17, 1861, suspending payments on the foreign debt for two years, led to the allied intervention of France, England, and Spain in December, 1861, and January, 1862. An agreement to protect the interests of foreign debtors led to the withdrawal of the English and Spanish troops; but France was aiming at nothing less than the establishment of a Mexican empire for the Austrian Archduke Maximilian (q.v.) in the interest of the Napoleonic dynasty, already seeking to strengthen its hold upon the French people by a brilliant foreign policy. Juárez obtained a loan from the United States, and fought the invaders with bravery and skill. On May 31, 1863, however, he fled from Mexico to San Luís Potosí before the victorious French. Step by step, in spite of a determined guerrilla warfare, he was forced to withdraw towards the north to Saltillo, to Monterey, to Chihuahua, and finally in August, 1865, to El Paso del Norte on the United States frontier. Maximilian had in the mean while proclaimed himself Emperor; but at this point the United States government, having established peace at home, found itself free to interfere in behalf of Juárez, whose claims had been from the beginning persistently recognized at Washington. Upon the representations of the United States the French troops. were withdrawn (January–March, 1867), and the Republicans immediately succeeded in turning the course of events in their own favor. Maximilian was captured and shot (June 19, 1867), and two days afterward the national troops under Porfirio Díaz entered the capital. Elections were held in December, and Juárez once more became President of the Republic. His administration, however, was harassed by constant attempts at revolution. In 1871 he was reëlected to the presidency, but the difficulties of the situation seemed rather to increase than to diminish. Díaz, who had been a candidate for the presidency in 1867, and again in 1871, raised the standard of revolt, and a formidable opposition rose up against Juárez. In the midst of these difficulties he died (July 18, 1872). His distinctive characteristics seem to have been a tremendous will power and the cold impassibility which marks his race in the presence of danger. The sincerity and utility of his reforms, both civil and judicial, are universally recognized. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 4-5.
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