 |
Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña
b. before or on 10 Aug 1782, Tixtla [now in Guerrero] [1]
d. 14 Feb 1831, Cuilápan, Oaxaca |
| Title: |
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (President of the Mexican United States) |
| Term: |
1 Apr 1829 - 20 Jan 1831 |
| Chronology: |
9 Jan 1829, elected, session of the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), Mexico City [2][3] |
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1 Apr 1829,
commencement of term in accordance with Art. 95 of the Constitution of 1824 |
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1 Apr 1829, took an oath of office, session of the Congreso General, salon de la Cámara de Diputados, Mexico City [4] |
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4 Feb 1830, declared unfit to exercise the functions of office, concurrent resolution of the Congreso General, passed by the Cámara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators) and Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) 18 Jan 1830 and 1 Feb 1830 respectively (promulgated as a decree 4 Feb 1830) [5][6] |
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20 Jan 1831,
ceased to exercise the functions of office upon capture by a belligerent force, Santa Cruz de Huatulco, Oaxaca [7] |
| Biography: |
| Born to poor criollo parents; did not receive formal education; joined the independence movement under José María Morelos (1810); distinguished himself in the battle of Izúcar (1812); after the defeat of the rebels in 1816, he continued guerrilla against the Spaniards in the south; emerged as the leading insurgent commander in the south and continued his fight for the next six years despite the defeats at Cañada de los Naranjos; entered into negotiations with the royalist commander Agustín de Iturbide which culminated with the proclamation of the Plan of Iguala (24 Feb 1821); was promoted to field-marshal (12 Oct 1821), a rank later replaced with that of divisional general (24 Oct 1823); appointed captain general with the jurisdication over Tlapa, Chilapa,Tixtla, Ajuchitlán, Ometepec, Tecpan, Jamiltepec and Tepoxcolula (appointment gazetted 23 Oct 1821); rebelled against the imperial government and supported the republican Plan de Veracruz (2 Dec 1822); during the period after the abdication of Emperor Agustín (Agustín de Iturbide), he was elected an alternate member of the Supremo Poder Ejecutivo (Supreme Executive Authority) (2 Jul 1823 - 10 Oct 1824) and took oath of office 3 Jul 1823; served as President of the Supreme Executive Authority (1 Sep 1823 - 30 Sep 1823, 1 Dec 1823 - 8 Dec 1823, 1 Mar 1824 - 31 Mar 1824, 1 Jun 1824 - 30 Jun 1824); received three votes of the state legislatures at the election of President and Vice President of the Mexican United States in 1824, but did not obtain a required majority; crushed the revolt of Vice President Nicolás Bravo at the battle of Tulancingo (1828); elected governor of the State of Veracruz (1828), but was unable to take office (resignation accepted 23 Mar 1829); unsuccessful candidate at presidential elections of 1828, he was supported by the liberals led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, proclaiming the Plan de Perote (16 Sep 1828) against apparent winner, Manuel Gómez Pedraza; following a failed attempt to seize the National Palace by the troops of La Acordada barracks and the flight of Gómez Pedraza from Mexico City (3 Dec 1828), he was acclaimed as the next president in a series of pronunciamientos backing the Plan de Perote; appointed secretary of war and marine (8 Dec 1828 - 26 Dec 1828) in the cabinet of Guadalupe Victoria; elected President of the Mexican United States (9 Jan 1829) by the Chamber of Deputies which had nullified the votes for Gómez Pedraza submitted to the Congreso General on 6 Jan 1829; was invested with extraordinary powers (25 Aug 1829) to repel the Spanish invasion caused by a bill proposing to expel every Spaniard from Mexico; using his emergency powers, he signed a decree abolishing the slavery in Mexico (16 Sep 1829); his reluctance to resign the extraordinary powers gave his adversaries a pretext for launching a revolt started with the Plan de Jalapa (4 Dec 1829); resigned his extraordinary powers at the session of the Congreso General (10 Dec 1829), and appealed for support; in response to the Plan de Jalapa, he chose to leave the capital to lead the military defense of his government and transferred the executive authority to José María de Bocanegra, serving as acting president (17 Dec 1829 - 23 Dec 1829); after his leaving with a body of troops, the garrison of Mexico City declared their adherence to the Plan de Jalapa, staging a bloodless coup (23 Dec 1829) and overthrowing the government of Bocanegra; was declared unfit to govern by a resolution approved by the Chamber of Senators (18 Jan 1830) and Chamber of Deputies (1 Feb 1830); raised an army in the south and initiated a counter-revolution which lasted until the battle of Chilpancingo (2 Jan 1831) when he was defeated by General Nicolás Bravo; was apprehended and turned over to federal troops (20 Jan 1831) at Santa Cruz de Huatulco, Oaxaca; condemned to death by a council of war and executed on 14 Feb 1831. |
| Biographical sources: birth and baptismal record in Archivo de la Parroquia de San Martín, Tixtla de Guerrero, Bautismos 1782-1810, fol. 2; "Vicente Guerrero, Mexican liberator: a study in patriotism", by William Forrest Sprague (R. R. Donnelley, 1939); "Los gobernantes de México: Galería de biografías y retratos de los vireyes, emperadores, presidentes y otros gobernantes que ha tenido México, desde don Hernando Cortes hasta el C. Benito Juarez", by Manuel Rivera (Mexico: Imp. de J. M. Aguilar Ortiz, 1872-1873), 2 vols. (web site: vol. 1, vol. 2); "El Gral. Guerrero y Picaluga. Apuntaciones de un viaje hecho de Guadalajara al Sur de México, por el primer ayudante Manuel Zavala en comisión del servicio," ed. by Luis González Obregón, in Anales del Museo Nacional de México. Segunda Época (México: Imprenta del Museo Nacional), 2:57-90; "Proceso instructivo formado por la seccion del Gran jurado de la Cámara de diputados del Congreso general: en averiguacion de los delitos de que fueron acusados los ex-ministros d. Lucas Alaman, d. Rafael Mangino, d. Jose Antonio Facio y d. Jose Ignacio Espinosa" (Mexico: Impreso por Ignacio Cumplido, 1833) (web site) |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Votes of States (1 Sep 1828) * |
| Manuel Gómez Pedraza |
11 (–) |
| Vicente Guerrero |
9 |
| Anastasio Bustamante |
6 |
| Melchor Múzquiz |
2 |
| Ignacio López Rayón |
3 (2) |
| Juan Ignacio Godoy |
1 (2) |
| Luis Cortazar |
1 |
| Valentín Gómez Farías |
1 |
| José Ignacio Esteva |
1 |
| Lorenzo Zavala |
1 |
| Candidate |
Votes of States (9 Jan 1829) |
| Vicente Guerrero |
15 |
| number of votes for a majority |
8 |
|
| * The numbers in parentheses are given for those candidates whose votes were excluded or changed in the report of the canvassing committee approved by the Congreso General 9 Jan 1829. All votes cast for Manuel Gómez Pedraza were nullified and the votes from Zacatecas were awarded to Godoy. |
| Source of electoral results: Correo de la Federación Mexicana, No. 243, 30 Jan 1829, p. 2; Colección de las leyes 1829-1830, p. 2; Historia parlamentaria, 5:318; full report of the canvassing committee is found in Bocanegra, 1:506-517. |
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| [1] |
The date of birth is omitted from baptismal record. |
| [2] |
Correo de la Federación Mexicana, Nos. 223, 229, 236, 239, 240, 242, 243 of 10, 16, 23, 26, 27, 29, and 30 Jan 1829; Colección de las leyes 1829-1830, pp. 1-2. |
| [3] |
The votes of the state legislatures cast at the election of President and Vice-President of the Mexican United States (1 Sep 1828) were delivered to the joint session of Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) and Cámara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators) on 6 Jan 1829 and publicly announced on the state-by-state basis. In accordance with Art. 82 of the Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies appointed a committee for canvassing of the votes. The final results were submitted to the Chamber of Deputies on 9 Jan 1829. The committee proposed to nullify the votes for Gómez Pedraza and reported that the counting revealed that no candidate had received a majority of the votes of the states. The Chamber of Deputies approved the final count excluding the votes for Gómez Pedraza and immediately proceeded, in accordance with Art. 86, to the election of President and Vice-President, resulting in the election of Guerrero and Bustamante. |
| [4] |
Correo de la Federación Mexicana, No. 306, 3 Apr 1829, pp. 1-2; Correo de la Federación Mexicana, No. 349, 17 May 1829, p. 1. |
| [5] |
In accordance with a decree issued in use of extraordinary powers on 16 Dec 1829, Guerrero announced that he would assume personal command of the troops. As required by Art. 96 and 97 of the Constitution, the Cámara de Diputados proceeded with the election of a provisional head of state and elected José María de Bocanegra (17 Dec 1829). Anticipating the lack of quorum at the session of the Congreso General, Guerrero signed a decree (17 Dec 1829), authorising Bocanegra to be sworn in before the Cámara de Diputados in violation of a constitutional norm, prescribing to hold the ceremony at the session of the Congreso. Bocanegra took oath of office at about 21:15 17 Dec 1829 and continued in office until his forced removal by revolt of the garrison of Mexico City (23 Dec 1829). |
| [6] |
Registro Oficial, No. 16, 5 Feb 1830, p. 1; Registro Oficial, No. 26, 15 Feb 1830, Supplement, p. 6; Colección de las leyes 1829-1830, p. 89. |
| [7] |
"Proceso instructivo", op. cit., pp. 172-179. |
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Image: portrait by Anacleto Escutia (1850). |
