Venustiano Carranza

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Venustiano Carranza Garza
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54th President of Mexico
In office August 20, 1917 – May 21, 1920
Preceded by	Francisco Lagos Cházaro
Succeeded by	Adolfo de la Huerta

Born	December 21, 1859 Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila
Died	May 21, 1920 Tlaxcalantongo, Puebla
Political party	Partido Demócrata Mexicano & Partido Liberal Constitucionalista
Spouse	Virginia Salinas

Not to be confused with Venustiano Carranza, D.F., a delegación (borough) of Mexico City.

Venustiano Carranza Garza (December 29 1859 – May 21 1920) was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted.

Carranza was born in the town of Cuatro Ciénegas, in the state of Coahuila, to a middle-class cattle-ranching family. His father, Jesús Carranza, had been a colonel in the army of Benito Juárez and a staunch supporter of Juárez's liberal party.

He studied at the Ateneo Fuente in Saltillo. In 1874 he went to the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in Mexico City.

Venustiano Carranza was an early supporter of Francisco I. Madero's efforts to overthrow the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship, and when Madero came to power he appointed Carranza Secretary of War and of the Navy. After Victoriano Huerta's overthrow of the Madero regime, Carranza became one of the leaders in the opposition revolt against Huerta. Carranza's forces were known as the Constitutionalist Army, as he advocated reinstatement of the liberal Constitution of 1857.

Carranza assumed the presidency on May 1 1915. He introduced an independent judiciary, greater decentralization of power, and land reform under the ejido system. Carranza was a man of great intelligence with wide knowledge of Mexican conditions and history. He was strongly built, wore round glasses and a large grey beard, giving him the appearance of a benevolent father figure.

In September 1916 Carranza saw the need for a new Constitution and called for a Constitutional convention. On March 11 1917 Venustiano Carranza was elected the first president under the new Mexican Constitution of 1917.

Fighting continued with factions who would not accept Carranza's rule, ranging from reactionary landowners and conservative Catholics to the forces of Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa for whom Carranza's reforms were too modest. Carranza ordered a bounty put on Zapata's head, leading to Zapata's assassination. Image:Imm.jpg As his presidential term drew to a close, he began grooming Ignacio Bonillas as his successor. This earned him the resentment of fellow revolutionaries Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, and Adolfo de la Huerta, who rebelled against Carranza's government. On April 8 1920, a campaign aide to Obregon attempted to assassinate Carranza. After the failed attempt, Carranza was forced to flee Mexico City.

He set out towards Veracruz but was intercepted in Tlaxcalantongo in the Sierra Norte of Puebla state by supporters of his former allies and assassinated by Rodolfo Herrera on May 21. 1920.

[edit] Reference

Enrique Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power (Harper Collins, 1997) pp. 334-373

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Francisco S. Carvajal	Revolutionary Commander of Mexico 1914	Succeeded by: Eulalio Gutiérrez
Preceded by: Francisco Lagos Cházaro	Revolutionary Commander of Mexico 1915–1917	Succeeded by: became President
Preceded by: Francisco S. Carvajal	President of Mexico 1917–1920	Succeeded by: Adolfo de la Huerta