JUAREZ, mvii'riss, BENITO PAnro (1306-72). President of the Republic of :Mexico. lie was born at Guelatao in the State of Dajaca, March 21, 1306, being the child of Indhut parents, who died when he was four years old. His education was taken in hand by a merchant of Oajaca, who made it possible for him to grad uate at the seminary in that town, after which he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1334. He was appointed judge of the civil court in 1342, and secretary to the provincial Governor in 1345. Meanwhile revolution and counter revolution had succeeded one another in the little State of Oajaea, which in 1346 resumed its sovereignty and placed the executive authority in the hands of a triumvirate. which included Juarez. Shortly after the restoration of the Federal Constitution, in the same year, Juarez was elected to the Constituent Congress. and in 1347 was chosen Governor of Oajaca. His ad ministration was, in the true sense of the term, an era of reform. The finances were put upon a sound basis, necessary public works were carried out, and the economic condition of the state, improved by the development of its mineral resources. When ;Juarez left office in 1S52 Oajaca was probably the most prosperous State in Mexico. Upon Santa Anna's return to power (1353) Juarez was exiled in revenge for a re fusal to lend himself to the dictator's purposes some years earlier. He spent the next two years in great poverty in New Orleans. The revolution against Santa Anna in 1355 made possible his return to :Mexico. lie joined the revolutionists under General Alvarez, who, upon becoming President. made Juarez Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs. in this capacity lie brought about the enactment of a law, known by his name. which suppressed the military and ecclesiastical tribunals, and with them all privi 100'e in army and Church. Upon the resignation of Alvarez. in Deeember, 1335, Juarez retired from office. but was named by Comonfort. the successor of Alvarez. provisional Governor of Onjaea, being subsequently chosen to this posi tion by an overwhelming majority. De resigned in 1357, to become Secretary of the Interior. and Chief Justice—the latter office being by the terms of the Constitution equivalent to the Vice-Presi dency of the nation.
On the overthrow of Comonfo•t in January, 1353, by the party of reaction, Juarez succeeded to the Presidency, and was recognized by all the :Mexican States. The Conservatives. however, took the field, and Juarez was compelled to llee to Guanajuato and then to Guadalajara, finally establishing the seat of government at Vera Cruz, where he arrived Slay 4th by way of Aca pulco, the isthmus of Panama. Havana. and New Orleans. In virtue of his executive authority, lie lad set, up a Cabinet, and he proceeded to issue decrees embodying the reforms which had been instituted by Comonfort. llis Government was recognized by the United States, In the civil war which ensued Juarez's authority was for a time reduced to the city of Vera Cruz, but finally the Liberals gained the upper hand.
Juarez's rival, General Slirainon, was defeated at Ca1pulalpam. December 22. 1360. and on Jan uary 11. 1361, .Juarez entered the City of Mexico. In March he was elected President for four years. Trouble, however, was at hand. The Government was bankrupt. Lyon the confiscation of Church lands failed to remedy the situation, and the decree of July 17, 1361, suspending payments on the foreign debt for two years. led to the allied intervention of France, England. and Spain in December, 1S61, and January, 1362. An agree ment to protect the interests of foreign debtors led to the withdrawal of the English and Spanish troops; but France was aiming at nothing less than the establishment of a Mexican empire for the Austrian Archduke Maximilian (q.v. ) in the interest of the Napoleonic dynasty, already seeking' to strengthen its hold upon the French people by a brilliant foreign policy. Juarez ob tained a loan from the United States. and fought. the invaders with bravery and skill. On Slay 31, 1363, however, lie fled front 'Mexico to San Luis Potosi before the victorious French. Step by step, in spite of a determined guerrilla warfare, be was forced to withdraw toward the north to Saltillo, to Monterey, to Chihuahua, and finally in Ammst, 1365. to El Paso del Norte on the United States frontier. Maximilian had in the 'meanwhile proclaimed himself Emperor; but at this point the United States Government. having established peace at home, found itself free to interfere in behalf of Juarez, whose claims had been front the beginning persistently recognized at Washington. Upon the representations of the United States, the French troops were withdrawn (.1ammry-March, 1367), and the Republicans in succeeded in turning the course of events in their own favor. :Maximilian was cap tured and shot (•une 19, 18117), and two days afterwards the national troops under Porfirio> Diaz entered the capital. Elections were held in December, and Juarez once more became Presi dent of the his administration, how C•Cr, was harassed by constant attempts at revolution. In 1371 he was reelected to the Presidency. but the difficulties of the situation seemed rather to increase than to dimin ish. Diaz, who had been a candidate for the Presidency- in 1867, and again in 1371, raised the standard of revolt, and a formidable opposi tion rose up against Juarez. In the midst of these difficulties he (lied, July IS. 1872. His listinetiwe charaeteristies seem to have been a tremendous will power, and the cold impassibility which marks his race in the presence of danger. The sincerity and utility of his reforms, both civil and judicial, are universally recognized. An account of Juarez is given in Bancroft, his tory of Mexico, vols. v. and vi. (San Francisco, 1889-901. There is also an excellent biography by Burke, A Life of Benito Juarez (London, 1894).