 |
José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos
b. 23 Feb 1792, Xalapa (Jalapa), Veracruz
d. 10 Feb 1854, Tacubaya |
| Title: |
Presidente del Consejo de Gobierno, en ejercicio del Poder Ejecutivo de la República Mexicana (President of the Council of Government in charge of the Executive Power of the Mexican Republic) |
| Term: |
12 Sep 1844 - 21 Sep 1844 |
| Chronology: |
12 Sep 1844, assumed the duties of the Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic during the absence of the incumbent, public ceremony, Mexico City [1][2] |
| |
21 Sep 1844,
ceased to exercise the functions of office upon the installation of a successor [3] |
| Title: |
Presidente del Consejo de Gobierno, en ejercicio del Poder Ejecutivo de la República Mexicana (President of the Council of Government in charge of the Executive Power of the Mexican Republic) [4] |
| Term: |
6 Dec 1844 - 15 Dec 1844 |
| Chronology: |
6 Dec 1844, assumed the functions of chief executive, proclamation dated 6 Dec 1844, Mexico City [5] |
| |
15 Dec 1844, took an oath of office as Interim President of the Mexican Republic, session of the Congreso General, salon de la Cámara de Diputados, Mexico City [6] |
| Title: |
Presidente Interino de la República Mexicana (Interim President of the Mexican Republic) |
| Term: |
15 Dec 1844 - 16 Sep 1845 |
| Chronology: |
7 Dec 1844, elected, session of the Cámara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators), Mexico City [7] |
| |
15 Dec 1844, took an oath of office, session of the Congreso General, salon de la Cámara de Diputados, Mexico City [8] |
| Title: |
Presidente Constitucional de la República Mexicana (Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic) |
| Term: |
16 Sep 1845 - 30 Dec 1845 |
| Chronology: |
14 Sep 1845, election to the office of Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic is declared upon counting the votes of the departmental assemblies (cast 1 Aug 1845), session of the Congreso General, Mexico City [9] |
| |
16 Sep 1845, took an oath of office, session of the Congreso General, Mexico City [10] |
| |
30 Dec 1845, ceased to exercise the functions of office [11] |
| Title: |
Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (Constitutional President of the Mexican United States) |
| Term: |
3 Jun 1848 - 15 Jan 1851 |
| Chronology: |
30 May 1848, elected, session of the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), Querétaro [12] |
| |
3 Jun 1848, took an oath of office, session of the Congreso General, Querétaro [13] |
| |
15 Jan 1851,
expiration of term in accordance with Art. 15 of the Law of 3 Jun 1847 [14] |
| Biography: |
| Descendant of Spanish noble family originating from Melilla; son of postmaster of Perote, Veracruz; joined the royalist army as a cadet in 1809; fought against the insurgents and distinguished himself in the capture of Guanajuato (1811); promoted to sub-lieutenant (1812), captain (1814); served with citizen militia of Chilapa (1814-1816) and the Southern Battalion (1816-1820); promoted to lieutenant colonel (1817); served as military and political commander of Tecpán and Acapulco; was made a captain of the grenadiers (1818); retired from the royalist army (1820) and returned to Perote where he opened an apothecary shop; was called to command revolutionary forces of Perote (1821); confronted the loyalist forces under captain Antonio López de Santa Anna near Orizaba and reportedly persuaded the latter to change sides; was confirmed in the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army of the Three Guarantees and immediately promoted to colonel (1821); was instrumental in freeing central and eastern Mexico from royalist control; entered Mexico City on 23 Sep 1821 to prepare the way for arrival of the Trigarantine Army (27 Sep 1821); promoted to brigadier sin letras (1821); elected a member of the first Congreso Constituyente of Mexico (1822-1823), representing the province of Veracruz; served as vice-president of the Congreso Constituyente (24 Apr 1822 - 24 May 1822); arrested along with other deputies of the Congreso (c. 16 Aug 1822) and accused of conspiracy against the Empire; released from prison (3 Jan 1823); served as Captain-General of the city of Mexico (1823); appointed supreme political chief of the Province of Nueva Galicia (1823) but was prevented from taking office by the government of the province under Luis Quintanar; returned to Mexico City and was appointed secretary of war and marine (1823-1824); named brigadier general in accordance with the decree of 24 Oct 1823; received a vote of the legislature of the State of Mexico at presidential election of 1824; served as military commander of the states of Michoacán and Yucatán (1824-1825) and Jalisco (1825); served as director general of the artillery corps (1826-1828); elected to the Cámara de Diputados (1826-1828) as a deputy for the State of Veracruz; appointed interim governor of the Federal District (1828) and briefly held the office of acting secretary of war and marine (1828); was appointed military commander of the State of Puebla (1828-1829) and succeeded in quelling the revolt of his predecessor, Melchor Múzquiz; transferred to Oaxaca where he served as military commander of the state (1829); appointed second in command of the Reserve Army (1829-1831); served as military commander of the State of Durango (1831); elected a member of the Supreme Tribunal of War and Marine (1831-1833) and held the office of vice-president of the court (1832-1833); as commander of the garrison of Mexico City, he supported the Accords of Zabaleta (signed 23 Dec 1832) which confirmed Manuel Gómez Pedraza in the office of President of the Mexican United States; served as governor of the Federal District (1833); promoted to divisional general (1833, retroactively effective 1 Sep 1826); twice held the portfolio of minister of war and marine (1833, 1834) in the cabinet of López de Santa Anna; returned to serve as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of War and Marine (1833-1834); was given the position of inspector general of the active militia (1834-1837); elected a member of the Supreme Court Martial (1837-1842) and served as its president (1840-1842); was briefly imprisoned in the fortress of Perote (1842) for "insubordination against the government" of Santa Anna; elected a member of the Congreso Constituyente from the department of Mexico (1842); vice-president of the Congreso (30 Nov 1842 - 17 Dec 1842); appointed a member of the Council of Government (appointed 18 Jul 1843, served 1 Jan 1844 - 15 Dec 1844) and president of this body (9 Jan 1844 - 15 Dec 1844); exercised the functions of chief executive (12 Sep 1844 - 21 Sep 1844), pending the arrival of Valentin Canalizo who had been elected Interim President; emerged as a leader of the revolt, demanding the restoration of the Congreso dissolved by Canalizo; assumed executive authority (6 Dec 1844), forcing Canalizo to step down; was elected Interim President of the Republic (15 Dec 1844 - 16 Sep 1845) by the Cámara de Senadores; won presidential election in 1845 and took the office of Constitutional President of the Republic (16 Sep 1845 - 30 Dec 1845); failed to prevent the annexation of Texas and was accused of political inaction by his opponents; challenged by insurgents under Mariano Paredes who approached Mexico City, he signed his resignation 30 Dec 1845 and sent it to the chambers of the Congreso which never met to accept it; left the presidential palace at about 16:00 30 Dec 1845; was elected a member of the Congreso Constituyente (1846-1847), representing the State of Veracruz; served as president of the Congreso Constituyente (30 Apr 1847 - 31? May 1847); appointed a commissioner to negotiate a peace treaty with the United States (1847); served as military commander of the city of Mexico (1847); appointed commander-in-chief of the Mexican army (1847), but resigned due to illness; following the acceptance of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, he was elected Constitutional President of the Republic (3 Jun 1848 - 15 Jan 1851); succeeded Gómez Pedraza as director of the Monte de Piedad (1851-1853). |
| Biographical sources: birth and baptismal record in Archivo de la Parroquia del Sagrario Metropolitano de la Arquidiocesis de Jalapa, Jalapa Enríquez, Bautismos 1792-1818, fol. 1; obituary: El Universal, No. 195, 11 Feb 1854, p. 3; "The Military and Political Career of José Joaquín de Herrera, 1792-1854", by Thomas Ewing Cotner (Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1949) (web site) |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Votes (7 Dec 1844) |
| José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos |
38 |
| Manuel Joaquín Rincón y Calcáneo |
1 |
| Candidate |
Votes of Departments (1 Aug 1845) |
| José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos |
22 |
| Candidate |
Votes of States (12 Sep 1847) * |
| José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos |
8 ** |
| Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón |
(3) *** |
| Ángel Trías Álvarez |
2 |
| Melchor Ocampo |
1 |
| Manuel Gómez Pedraza y Rodríguez |
1 |
| Candidate |
Votes of States (30 May 1848) |
| José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos |
11 |
| Ángel Trías Álvarez |
5 |
|
| * 12 Sep 1847 was the date appointed for holding elections by electoral colleges of all states of the federation. Because of the military actions during the Mexican–American War, some colleges failed to convene until the spring of 1848. |
| ** Herrera received 9 votes of the states, but the vote of the State of Chihuahua was disqualified due to insufficient number of electors. |
| *** All votes cast for López de Santa Anna were disqualified because of his absence from the national territory. |
| Source of electoral results: Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,463, 15 Dec 1844, p. 541; Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,756, 4 Oct 1845, p. 133; Historia parlamentaria, 19:548-549; El Siglo Diez y Nueve, No. 1, 1 Jun 1848, p. 4. |
| |
| [1] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,371, 14 Sep 1844, p. 180; El Siglo Diez y Nueve, No. 1,024, p. 14 Sep 1844, p. 2. |
| [2] |
Exercised the functions of chief executive between the departure of the Constitutional President López de Santa Anna and arrival of Interim President Canalizo to Mexico City in accordance with Art. 91 of the Organic Bases of the Mexican Republic of 1843. |
| [3] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,381, 24 Sep 1844, p. 217; Historia parlamentaria, 17:100. |
| [4] |
Also in official use: Presidente Constitucional del Consejo de Gobierno, encargado del poder ejecutivo de la República; Presidente del Consejo de Gobierno, en ejercicio del Supremo Poder Ejecutivo; Presidente del Consejo, en ejercicio del Supremo Poder Ejecutivo por ministerio de la ley. After his election to the office of Interim President of the Republic (7 Dec 1844) and before swearing-in (15 Dec 1844), he was already styled Presidente Interino de la República Mexicana in official documents. |
| [5] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,454, 6 Dec 1844, p. 509. |
| [6] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,480, 1 Jan 1845, p. 2. |
| [7] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,463, 15 Dec 1844, p. 541; declined to serve in a letter submitted to the Senado 9 Dec 1844; Senado voted not to accept his resignation 10 Dec 1844. |
| [8] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,480, 1 Jan 1845, p. 2; Historia parlamentaria, 17:233. |
| [9] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,756, 4 Oct 1845, p. 133. |
| [10] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 3,757, 5 Oct 1845, p. 137. |
| [11] |
As a result of the mutiny of the garrison of Mexico City, Herrera was forced to sign a letter of resignation addressed to the chambers of Congreso General (mentioned in a manifesto dated 30 Dec 1845, Mexico City). He left the National Palace at about 16:00 30 Dec 1845 and moved to his residence (El Monitor Constitucional, No. 322, 31 Dec 1845, p. 4). His resignation was never submitted to the Congreso as the chamber failed to convene at joint session. |
| [12] |
Historia parlamentaria, 19:548-549; El Siglo Diez y Nueve, No. 1, 1 Jun 1848, p. 4. |
| [13] |
Historia parlamentaria, 19:556-557. |
| [14] |
Diario del Gobierno, No. 87, 7 Jun 1847, p. 1. |
