Miguel Alemán
46th President of Mexico
In office 1 December 1946 – 30 November 1952
Preceded by	Manuel Ávila Camacho
Succeeded by	Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
Governor of Veracruz
In office 1 December 1936 – 6 April 1939
Preceded by	Ignacio Herrera Tejeda
Succeeded by	Fernando Casas Alemán
Personal details
Born	(1900-09-29)29 September 1900 Sayula, Veracruz
Died	14 May 1983(1983-05-14) (aged 82) Mexico City
Nationality	Mexican
Political party	Institutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s)	Beatriz Velasco

Miguel Alemán Valdés (29 September 1900^[1] – 14 May 1983) served as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952.

Life[link]

Alemán was born in Sayula in the state of Veracruz^[2] as the son of General Miguel Alemán González and Tomasa Valdés Ledezma. As a child, he was not permitted to attend school in his home town, due to his father's political beliefs (he was a former revolutionary general), but he did study in other areas instead. He attended the National Preparatory School in Mexico City from 1920–1925, and then went to the National School of Law until 1928, completing his law degree with his thesis on occupational diseases and accidents among workers. As a successful attorney, his first practice was in representing miners suffering from silicosis. He won two notable legal victories in defending workers against corporations. The first was in securing compensation for dependents of railroad workers who were killed in revolutionary battles; the second was to gain indemnities for miners injured at work.^[3] These victories gained him great favor with Mexico's labor unions.

Representing the Party of the Mexican Revolution (an earlier name of the party later known as the PRI), he served as Senator from the state of Veracruz from 1934 to 1936. When Manlio Favio Altamirano, the governor-elect of Veracruz, was assassinated, Aleman accepted appointment as Governor of Veracruz from 1936 to 1939.^[4] From 1940 to 1945, he served as Secretary of the Interior under Manuel Ávila Camacho after directing his presidential campaign. Alemán ran for President in 1946 as candidate of the PRI, and was the winner of the elections held on July 7 of that year, defeating former foreign minister Ezequiel Padilla to become the first non-military candidate to win the presidency of Mexico. He was inaugurated as President of the Republic on 1 December 1946^[5] and served until 1952.

Miguel Aleman

In 1961, he was named president of the national tourist commission, and was influential in bringing the 1968 Summer Olympics to Mexico. In addition, he was the first president of the Mr. Amigo Association in 1964, which celebrates the bi-national friendliness between the United States and Mexico in the Charro Days and Sombrero Festival celebrations held in Matamoros, Tamaulipas and Brownsville, Texas.^[6]

Presidential years[link]

As president, Alemán pursued industrial development, increasing the extension of the nation's rail network, improving highways, and constructing a number of major schools. To accomplish this, he negotiated a major loan from the United States in 1947. Alemán and U.S. President Harry S. Truman rode in a parade in Washington that attracted an estimated 600,000 well-wishers.^[7] Internationally, he signed peace agreements with Japan, Germany and Italy following World War II, had a hand in a truce between Pakistan and India, and worked with the United States on the issue of the braceros.

Miguel Alemán Valdés in the congress

He also worked extensively with irrigation and farming, greatly expanding the national production of rice, sugar, bananas, coffee, oats, and pineapple. In 1947 he initiated a huge project to control floods and generate hydroelectricity in the state of Oaxaca, culminating with the opening of the Miguel Alemán Dam in 1955.^[8] In 1951, he oversaw completion of the diversion of the Lerma River, bringing to an end Mexico City's water supply problems.^[9] He faced the appearance of foot-and-mouth disease and killed thousands of cattle in order to contain it. He gave women the right to vote in municipal elections during his term, and in 1952, elevated Baja California to state status. He played a major role in the development and support of the city of Acapulco, which is now well known all over the world as one of the principal tourist destinations in Mexico and Latin America. Rampant political corruption and crony capitalism would mark his administration, and this would shape the relationship of politics and big business in Mexico until the present day.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Miguel Alemán

• (Spanish) Mexican government biography
• (Spanish) Biography
• Camp, Roderic A. Mexican Political Biographies. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona, 1982.

v t e Presidents of the United Mexican States Guadalupe Victoria Vicente Guerrero José María Bocanegra Pedro Vélez Anastasio Bustamante Melchor Múzquiz Manuel Gómez Pedraza Valentín Gómez Farías Antonio López de Santa Anna Miguel Barragán José Justo Corro Nicolás Bravo Francisco Javier Echeverría Valentín Canalizo José Joaquín de Herrera Mariano Paredes José Mariano Salas Pedro María de Anaya Manuel de la Peña Mariano Arista Juan Bautista Ceballos Manuel María Lombardini Martín Carrera Rómulo Díaz Juan Álvarez Hurtado Ignacio Comonfort Félix María Zuloaga Manuel Robles Pezuela Miguel Miramón José Ignacio Pavón Benito Juárez Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada José María Iglesias Juan N. Méndez Porfirio Díaz Manuel González Flores Francisco León de la Barra Francisco I. Madero Pedro Lascuráin Victoriano Huerta Francisco S. Carvajal Venustiano Carranza Eulalio Gutiérrez Roque González Garza Francisco Lagos Cházaro Adolfo de la Huerta Álvaro Obregón Plutarco Elías Calles Emilio Portes Gil Pascual Ortiz Rubio Abelardo Luján Rodríguez Lázaro Cárdenas Manuel Ávila Camacho Miguel Alemán Valdés Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo López Mateos Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Luis Echeverría José López Portillo Miguel de la Madrid Carlos Salinas de Gortari Ernesto Zedillo Vicente Fox Felipe Calderón Vice President of Mexico

Miguel Alemán may refer to:

• Miguel Alemán González, general in the Mexican Revolution; father of:
• Miguel Alemán Valdés (1900–1983), president of Mexico from 1946 to 1952; father of:
• Miguel Alemán Velasco (b. 1932), governor of Veracruz from 1998 to 2004; father of:
• Miguel Alemán Magnani, owner of low-cost airline Interjet

Named for them:

• Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, city in Tamaulipas
• Estadio Miguel Aleman, sports stadium in Celaya, Guanajuato
• Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, a municipality in the state of Tamaulipas
• Viaducto Miguel Alemán, east-west expressway in Mexico City
• Miguel Alemán Lake, in Oaxaca, Mexico

Unrelated:

• José Miguel Alemán (born 1956), Panamanian politician

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
47th President of Mexico
In office 1 December 1952 – 30 November 1958
Preceded by	Miguel Alemán Valdés
Succeeded by	Adolfo López Mateos
Governor of Veracruz
In office 1 December 1944 – April 1948
Preceded by	Jorge Cerdán Lara
Succeeded by	Ángel Carvajal Bernal
Personal details
Born	(1890-12-30)30 December 1890 Veracruz, Veracruz
Died	3 December 1973(1973-12-03) (aged 82) Mexico City
Nationality	Mexican
Political party	Institutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s)	María Dolores Izaguirre
He was the first Governor of Veracruz to serve a 6-year long term.

Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (30 December 1890 – 3 December 1973) was President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was one of the oldest presidents of Mexico, perhaps best remembered for granting women the right to vote in presidential elections and stimulating the Mexican economy.

Childhood and education[link]

Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was born on 30 December 1889 in the state of Veracruz. His parents were Adolfo Ruiz Tejada, the governor of Veracruz at that time, and María Cortines Cotera. Ruiz’s father Adolfo Ruiz Tejada died when he was young. Then Adolfo was raised and educated by his mother.^[1]

His mother taught him to write and to read at the age of 3. Later, he entered a school directed by Joaquín Jerónimo Diaz and Florencio Veyro. At the age of twelve he attended the “Instituto de Veracruz,” where he studied accounting. Adolfo Ruiz Cortines pursued his secondary educational studies at the “Colegio de los Jesuitas,” which was considered the best school in the state of Veracruz. Adolfo learned from his mentors about liberalism, a political principle he would apply during his entire political career. In addition, he acquired his fanaticism for baseball there. He always wanted to study at university, but circumstances never permitted him to do so. At the age of 16 he was forced to abandon his formal studies. Finding himself the head of his family, he found a job as an accounting assistant at a commercial clothing enterprise to support his relatives.^[1]

Military career[link]

In 1909 Adolfo read the book "La sucesión presidencial de 1910 (The presidential Succession of 1910)” written by Francisco I. Madero and published in 1909, the leader of the opposition against the presidency of General Diaz. This book motivated his interest in politics. In 1910 the Mexican Revolution started and he became influenced by several of its main players such as Pascual Orozco and Francisco Villa. Because of this influence in the year of 1912 at the age of 23 he migrated to Mexico City. During his stay in Mexico City, President Madero was assassinated and Victoriano Huerta took power. Since he was against the Huerta he joined revolutionary forces under the command of Alfredo Robles the right hand of the revolutionary leader Venustiano Carranza. Robles was in charge of the revolutionary forces in the south and center of Mexico.^[1]

Political career[link]

In 1935 at 45 years of age Adolfo started his political career as the director in charge of Mexico City. It was during that time when he met Miguel Alemán Váldez a young lawyer that would become president of Mexico. Five years later the president Manuel Ávila Camacho designated Miguel Aleman as "Minister of Government" (Secretario de Gobernación), an important position. Miguel Aleman asked Adolfo to join him as his sub-secretary because of their close relation. This position gave Adolfo the opportunity to obtain influence within the main political party at that time [Institutional Revolutionary Party] “PRI”. After several years the PRI designated him as candidate for the government of Veracruz.^[1]

Governor of Veracruz[link]

On December 1944 Adolfo Ruiz Cortines became governor of Veracruz. During his administration, he expanded public education in the state. Some of the institutions he founded were the Technical Studies Institute (Departamento para estudios técnicos) which provided people with a practical education that allowed them to improve their life quality. Furthermore, he founded the Institute of Anthropology, the State Planning Committee among others. He also modified the local Constitution to allow women to participate in the local and municipal elections. He built roads and bridges to develop Veracruz's infrastructure since it was one of the main ports of Mexico at that time.^[2]

President of Mexico[link]

On 14 October 1951, Ruiz Cortines was named candidate for the presidency by the Institutional Revolutionary Party. The people gave him their support in the polls. On 10 December 1952, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines took over the presidency of the republic. He exercised tight control of public expenditure, supported the construction of roads, railways, dams, schools and hospitals. He also implemented a plan called "March to the Sea", which the aim of carrying coastal population of the highlands to the coast, and make better use and development of marine resources, coastal zones. Under this program malaria was eradicated. He created the Rural Social Welfare Program to improve the living conditions of the rural population and encouraged land distribution. Large foreign estates were expropriated. Furthermore he implemented the Farm Security to protect farmers from natural disasters.^[2]

At the beginning of his term, President Ruiz Cortines sent a bill to amend Article 34 of the Constitution, in order to grant women equal political rights with men, this granted the vote to Mexican women. In order to promote measures to meet the need of homes, he created the National Housing Institute, gave a stimulus to industry, particularly small and medium sized, laid the foundation for the development of the petrochemical industry and promoted the creation of jobs.^[2]

In response to the technical advances in the field of nuclear energy, and considering that Mexico could not remain unaffected by this development he created the National Nuclear Energy Commission. Primary and secondary education were boosted greatly.He specially supported the polytechnic university. Adolfo equipped the facilities of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and began subsidies to support universities through the republic.^[2]

Another primary goal of his government was to improve the health of men and women from Mexico. Therefore he fought children malnutrition and promoted an immunization campaign.^[2]

Internal Politics[link]

Ruiz Cortines turned his attention to social problems and imposed an era of austerity in the Mexican government. He modified the law in order to promote responsibility and honesty among public servants since there was a lot of corruption. Ruiz Cortines created a law that forced public servants to declare their assets before beginning to work in the government. Ruiz’s purpose was to compare the public servants fortune before and after their participation in public charges to combat illicit enrichment and corruption.^[2]

Ruiz's government decided to reduce public spending to consolidate public finances and fight inflation. This policy allowed Mexico's economy to grow at an enormous rate since for the first time in many years the Mexican government generated a budget surplus. Unfortunately, in 1953 private investment went down and Ruiz Cortines lost popularity. He reoriented his policy towards boosting production.^[2]

Foreign Relations[link]

During Ruiz's term Mexico had cold diplomatic relationships with the United States of America. This was because Ruiz refused to make any agreements that committed Mexico's participation in international wars. During his term Ruiz completed the construction of projects like Falcon dam, built with a 58.6% equity and 41.4% Mexican American founds. In 1956, Ruiz attended a meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower and Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent of Canada. During the interview the leaders discussed immigration issues, economic cooperation, civil aviation and illegal fishing in coastal areas. In general President Ruiz's foreign policy was conservative and respectful of the sovereignty of other nations. And although he was a kind man, he had created differences between all the other leaders during his time.^[3]

Post presidency[link]

On 10 December 1958 Adolfo handed over power to his successor Adolfo Lopez Mateo. After this he left politics and retired to his private life at a late stage of his life. In his last days, his friend Manuel Caldelas Garcia, a politician who was known in his youth, began living with him at his home in Veracruz. Caldelas he helped with household chores and took care of former President Ruiz Cortines. On the afternoon of 3 December 1973, the health status of Ruiz Cortines became critical. Dr. Mario Díaz Tejeda went to the home to treat the condition of the former president. When the drugs took effect on him, Ruiz Cortines fell asleep. At 21:05 am on Monday, 3 December 1973, Tomás Adolfo Ruiz Cortines died at 82 years old victim of heart failure caused by arteriosclerosis.^[3]

References[link]

• (Spanish) Mexican government biography
• Online biography
• Camp, Roderic A. Mexican Political Biographies. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona, 1982.

v t e Presidents of the United Mexican States Guadalupe Victoria Vicente Guerrero José María Bocanegra Pedro Vélez Anastasio Bustamante Melchor Múzquiz Manuel Gómez Pedraza Valentín Gómez Farías Antonio López de Santa Anna Miguel Barragán José Justo Corro Nicolás Bravo Francisco Javier Echeverría Valentín Canalizo José Joaquín de Herrera Mariano Paredes José Mariano Salas Pedro María de Anaya Manuel de la Peña Mariano Arista Juan Bautista Ceballos Manuel María Lombardini Martín Carrera Rómulo Díaz Juan Álvarez Hurtado Ignacio Comonfort Félix María Zuloaga Manuel Robles Pezuela Miguel Miramón José Ignacio Pavón Benito Juárez Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada José María Iglesias Juan N. Méndez Porfirio Díaz Manuel González Flores Francisco León de la Barra Francisco I. Madero Pedro Lascuráin Victoriano Huerta Francisco S. Carvajal Venustiano Carranza Eulalio Gutiérrez Roque González Garza Francisco Lagos Cházaro Adolfo de la Huerta Álvaro Obregón Plutarco Elías Calles Emilio Portes Gil Pascual Ortiz Rubio Abelardo Luján Rodríguez Lázaro Cárdenas Manuel Ávila Camacho Miguel Alemán Valdés Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo López Mateos Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Luis Echeverría José López Portillo Miguel de la Madrid Carlos Salinas de Gortari Ernesto Zedillo Vicente Fox Felipe Calderón Vice President of Mexico

Adolfo López Mateos
Adolfo López Mateos in 1959.
48th President of Mexico
In office 1 December 1958 – 30 November 1964
Preceded by	Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
Succeeded by	Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Personal details
Born	(1910-05-26)26 May 1910 Atizapán de Zaragoza, State of Mexico, Mexico
Died	22 September 1969(1969-09-22) (aged 59) Mexico City, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican
Political party	Institutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s)	Eva Sámano Angelina Gutiérrez

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2009)

Adolfo López Mateos (26 May 1910 – 22 September 1969^[1]) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. As president, he nationalized electric companies, created the National Commission for Free Textbooks (1959) and promoted the creation of prominent museums such as the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Declaring his political philosophy to be “left within the Constitution,” López Mateos was the first left-wing politician to hold the presidency since Lázaro Cárdenas.

Life[link]

President Adolfo López Mateos with future President of the United States Lyndon Baines Johnson and former President Harry S. Truman, in 1959.

According to official records, López Mateos was born in Atizapán de Zaragoza, a small town in the state of México, though at a young age his family moved to Mexico City upon his father's death. Nevertheless, there is a birth certificate and several testimonies archived at El Colegio de México that place his birth on 10 September 1909 in Patzicía, Guatemala.^[2]

In 1929 he graduated from the Scientific and Literary Institute of Toluca, where he was a delegate and student leader of the Socialist Labor Party. That year he supported the presidential campaign of José Vasconcelos —an opposition candidate— as an orator against the presidential campaign of Pascual Ortiz Rubio, and filled a number of bureaucratic positions from then until 1941, when he met Isidro Fabela. Fabela helped him into a position as the director of the Literary Institute of Toluca after Fabela resigned the post to join the International Court of Justice. He served until 1952, when he became the Secretary of Labor under president Adolfo Ruiz Cortines. In 1958, he was elected president of Mexico, and served until 1964. Plagued with migraines during his adult life, he was diagnosed with several cerebral aneurysms, and, after several years in a coma, he died in 1969.

López Mateos was the first chairman of the Organization Committee of the 1968 Summer Olympics and called the meeting that led to the creation of the World Boxing Council.

Presidency[link]

A wide range of social reforms were carried out during Adolfo Lopez Mateos’ presidency. Land reform was carried out vigorously, with 16 million hectares of land redistributed. The government also cleared and opened up new agricultural lands in the extreme south, which helped to reduce land tension in that part of the country. Public-health campaigns were also launched to combat diseases such as polio, malaria, and tuberculosis. Typhus, smallpox, and yellow fever were eradicated, and malaria was significantly reduced.

Tackling poverty became one of the priorities of López Mateos’s government, and during his presidency social welfare investments reached a historical peak of 19.2% of total investment. A number of social-welfare programmes for the poor were set up, and existing social-welfare programmes were improved. Health care and pensions were increased, new hospitals and clinics were built, and the IMSS programme for rural Mexico was expanded. A social security institute was established, which provided child care, medical services, and other social services to workers, especially state employees. A 1959 amendment to the Social Security Law also brought part-time workers within the auspices of social security.

A food distribution system was established to provide affordable staples for poor Mexicans and a market for farm produce. The government entered the housing business on a large scale for the first time in Mexican history, with a major programme being initiated to build low-cost housing in major industrial cities with over 50,000 units of low-income housing constructed between 1958 and 1964. One of the largest housing developments in Mexico City housed 100,000 people and contained several nurseries, four clinics, and several schools.

In an effort to reduce illiteracy, the idea of adult education classes was revived whilst a system of free and compulsory school textbooks was launched. Education had become the largest single item in the federal budget by 1963, and there was a renewed emphasis on school construction. Almost every village was assisted in the construction of schools and provided with teachers and textbooks. Free student breakfasts for primary-school pupils were also restored.

An attempt was made at political liberalisation, with an amendment to the constitution that altered the electoral procedures in the Chamber of Deputies by encouraging greater representation for opposition candidates in Congress. In the 1964 elections, for instance, the Popular Socialist Party (PPS) won 10 seats while the National Action Party (PAN) won 20.

The government succeeded in reducing labour unrest by setting up a National Commission for the Implementation of Profit Sharing which apportioned between 5% to 10% of each company’s profits to organised labour. In 1960, Article 123 of the Mexican Constitution was amended to ensure that government employees were protected by minimum-wage legislation. Tight price controls and sharp increases in the minimum wage also ensured that the worker’s real minimum wage index reached its highest level since the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas. State intervention in the economy increased markedly between 1958 and 1964, with the government purchasing controlling stock in a number of foreign industries. The government also purchased the cinema industry, and it was decreed that ticket prices would be affordable for all.

López Mateos welcomed U.S. President John F. Kennedy to Mexico for a highly successful visit in July 1962.

López Mateos was succeeded as president by the conservative Gustavo Ordaz in 1964.

Sources[link]

A Traveller's History of Mexico by Kenneth Pearce

The Course of Mexican History by Michael C. Meyer and William M. Sherman

Mexico: Lonely Planet Travel Guide (2010)

Mexico and the United States by Lee Stacy

The Mexican profit-sharing decision: politics in an authoritarian regime by Susan Kaufman Purcell

Plaza of sacrifices: gender, power, and terror in 1968 Mexico by Elaine Carey

Medicine in Mexico: from Aztec herbs to betatrons‎ by Gordon Schendel and José Alvarez Amézquita

www.county-data.com

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adolfo López Mateos

• Biography at Mexico Connect
• Biography at Historical Text Archive
• (Spanish) Biography
• Camp, Roderic A. Mexican Political Biographies. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona, 1982.

v t e Presidents of the United Mexican States Guadalupe Victoria Vicente Guerrero José María Bocanegra Pedro Vélez Anastasio Bustamante Melchor Múzquiz Manuel Gómez Pedraza Valentín Gómez Farías Antonio López de Santa Anna Miguel Barragán José Justo Corro Nicolás Bravo Francisco Javier Echeverría Valentín Canalizo José Joaquín de Herrera Mariano Paredes José Mariano Salas Pedro María de Anaya Manuel de la Peña Mariano Arista Juan Bautista Ceballos Manuel María Lombardini Martín Carrera Rómulo Díaz Juan Álvarez Hurtado Ignacio Comonfort Félix María Zuloaga Manuel Robles Pezuela Miguel Miramón José Ignacio Pavón Benito Juárez Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada José María Iglesias Juan N. Méndez Porfirio Díaz Manuel González Flores Francisco León de la Barra Francisco I. Madero Pedro Lascuráin Victoriano Huerta Francisco S. Carvajal Venustiano Carranza Eulalio Gutiérrez Roque González Garza Francisco Lagos Cházaro Adolfo de la Huerta Álvaro Obregón Plutarco Elías Calles Emilio Portes Gil Pascual Ortiz Rubio Abelardo Luján Rodríguez Lázaro Cárdenas Manuel Ávila Camacho Miguel Alemán Valdés Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo López Mateos Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Luis Echeverría José López Portillo Miguel de la Madrid Carlos Salinas de Gortari Ernesto Zedillo Vicente Fox Felipe Calderón Vice President of Mexico