Manuel González Flores
President of Mexico from 1880 to 1884 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Manuel del Refugio González Flores (17 June 1833 – 8 May 1893)[3] was a Mexican military general and liberal politician who served as the 35th President of Mexico from 1880 to 1884.[4]
Manuel González Flores | |
---|---|
35th President of Mexico | |
In office 1 December 1880 – 30 November 1884 | |
Preceded by | Porfirio Díaz |
Succeeded by | Porfirio Díaz |
Governor of Guanajuato | |
In office 31 May 1885 – 8 May 1893 | |
Preceded by | Pablo Rocha y Portu |
Succeeded by | Joaquín Obregón González |
Personal details | |
Born | Manuel del Refugio González Flores (1833-06-17)17 June 1833 El Moquete, Tamaulipas, Mexico[1] |
Died | 8 May 1893(1893-05-08) (aged 59) Chapingo, State of Mexico[2] |
Resting place | Panteón de Dolores |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | Laura Mantecón Arteaga (1860-1878) |
Before initiating his presidential career, González played important roles in the Mexican–American War as a lieutenant, and later in the Reform War as general on the conservative side. In the French intervention in Mexico, González fought for the Mexican Republic under the command of General Porfirio Díaz. He supported Díaz's attempts to gain the presidency of Mexico, which succeeded in 1876. He served as Mexican Secretary of War in the Díaz administration from 1878 to 1879. Díaz could not be re-elected to the presidency in 1880, since the basis of his coup against Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada was the principle of no-reelection, so Díaz worked for the election of his political client González, who would be a weak rival should Díaz run again.
His presidency from 1880 to 1884 is marked by a number of major diplomatic and domestic achievements,[5] which historian Friedrich Katz considers to be no less than "the profound transformation" of Mexico.[6]
Although the González presidency has been considered corrupt, that assessment is colored by the difficult financial circumstances in 1884 and by Díaz's campaign to discredit his successor, paving the way for his own re-election in 1884.[7]