Francisco I. Madero

Francisco Ignacio Madero González (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈsiskojɣˈnasjo maˈðeɾo ɣonˈsales]; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who served as the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'état in February 1913 and assassinated. He came to prominence as an advocate for democracy and as an opponent of President and de facto dictator Porfirio Díaz. After Díaz claimed to have won the fraudulent election of 1910 despite promising a return to democracy, Madero started the Mexican Revolution to oust Díaz. Madero supposedly initiated the Mexican Revolution with guidance from spirits (Madero identified as a medium who communicated with ghosts, including historical figures like Benito Juarez and even his deceased younger brother.) The Mexican revolution would continue until 1920, well after Madero and Díaz's deaths, with hundreds of thousands dead.

A member of one of Mexico's wealthiest families, Madero studied business at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris. An advocate for social justice and democracy, his 1908 book The Presidential Succession in 1910 called Mexican voters to prevent the reelection of Porfirio Díaz, whose regime had become increasingly authoritarian. Bankrolling the opposition Anti-Reelectionist Party, Madero's candidacy garnered widespread support in the country. He challenged Díaz in the 1910 election, which resulted in his arrest. After Díaz declared himself winner for an eighth term in a rigged election, Madero escaped from jail, fled to the United States, and called for the overthrow of his regime in the Plan of San Luis Potosí, sparking the Mexican Revolution.

Madero's armed support was concentrated in northern Mexico and was aided by access to arms and finances in the United States. In Chihuahua, Madero recruited wealthy landowner Abraham González to his movement, appointing him provisional governor of the state. González then enlisted Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco as revolutionary leaders. Madero crossed from Texas into Mexico and took command of a band of revolutionaries, but was defeated in the Battle of Casas Grandes by the Federal Army, which led him to abandon military command roles. Concerned the Battle of Ciudad Juárez would cause casualties in the American city of El Paso and prompt foreign intervention, Madero ordered Villa and Orozco to retreat, but they disobeyed and captured Juárez. Díaz resigned on 25 May 1911 after the signing of the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez and went into exile. Madero retained the Federal Army and dismissed the revolutionary fighters who had forced Díaz's resignation.

Madero was enormously popular among many sectors, but he did not immediately assume the presidency. An interim president was installed and elections were scheduled. Madero was elected in a landslide and sworn into office on 6 November 1911. The Madero administration soon encountered opposition, both from conservatives and from more radical revolutionaries. Hesitation to implement large-scale land reform efforts upset many of his followers, who viewed it as a promised demand from conflict participation. Workers also became disillusioned by his moderate policies. Former supporter Emiliano Zapata declared himself in rebellion against Madero in the 1911 Plan of Ayala; and in the north, former loyalist Pascual Orozco led an insurrection against him. Foreign investors became concerned that Madero was unable to maintain political stability, while foreign governments were concerned that a destabilized Mexico would threaten international order.

In February 1913, a coup d'état backed by the United States and led by conservative Generals Félix Díaz (a nephew of Porfirio Díaz), Bernardo Reyes, and general Victoriano Huerta was staged in Mexico City, with the latter taking the presidency. Madero was captured and assassinated along with vice-president José María Pino Suárez in a series of events now called the Ten Tragic Days, where his brother Gustavo was tortured and killed. After his assassination, Madero became a unifying force among revolutionary factions against the Huerta regime. In the north, Venustiano Carranza, then Governor of Coahuila, led the nascent Constitutionalist Army; meanwhile Zapata continued his rebellion against the Federal Government under the Plan of Ayala. Once Huerta was ousted in July 1914, the revolutionary coalitions met in the Convention of Aguascalientes, where disagreements persisted, and Mexico entered a new stage of civil war.