Everything about Francisco Madero totally explained
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.
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.
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 wasn't 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.
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.
Miscellany
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