Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
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Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (1890-1973) was president of Mexico from 1952 to 1958. Not a flamboyant politician, he did lead Mexico on a steady course, the hallmarks of which were moderation and integrity. He believed in a "balanced revolution" in which private enterprise and the state would cooperate in the modernization process.
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was born to a relatively poor family in the Gulf state of Veracruz on December 30, 1890. His father, a low ranking customs official in the port city, died when he was only a few months old. Although he did complete his primary education in his home state, he dropped out of school at the age of 16 to help support his family. Working for a short time as a book-keeper's assistant and later in a textile mill, he did not abandon the idea of returning to school, but the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in November of 1910 disrupted his plans for obtaining a university degree.
Ruiz Cortines played no major role in the early revolution. He did join the revolutionary army and served briefly in Venustiano Carranza's secret service in the fight against President Victoriano Huerta. When that movement succeeded in overthrowing Huerta, Ruiz Cortines became the personal aide to the newly named governor of the Federal District, Alfredo Robles Domínguez. For the next 20 years, 1920-1940, he served in various minor government positions, both civilian and military, and garnered a well-earned reputation for honesty and administrative efficiency.
Many Mexican political observers believed that Ruiz Cortines' inconspicuous career had culminated when, at the age of 54, he became governor of Veracruz, but during his governorship he cultivated a close personal relationship with Miguel Alemán, a rising political star, also from the state of Veracruz. Shortly after Alemán won the Mexican presidency in 1946 he decided to bring Ruiz Cortines into the cabinet as secretary of gobernación (government). He resigned his governorship to accept the cabinet post. It was a good decision, as he now had a strong patron and a national political base. Not at all characteristic of Mexican politicians in the post World War II period, as a cabinet minister Ruiz Cortines continued to live an austere life. He refused the government's offer of a chauffer and limosine and drove himself to work in his own car from his modest house. In 1952, with Alemán's backing, he won the presidential nomination of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional and in December of that year, at the age of 62, was inaugurated as president of Mexico.
Ruiz Cortines entered the Mexican presidency at a time when it was necessary to rekindle confidence in the country's political system. He proved to be most suited for this task as his personal honesty was above reproach. His predecessor and close friend, Miguel Alemán, had presided over an administration notorious for its widespread graft and corruption. Ruiz Cortines announced in his inaugural address that he would demand strict honesty from all public officials; high level government employees for the first time were required to publicly disclose their assets when they entered and left office. His own assets, public records disclosed, amounted to only $30,000. Hoping to instill a sense of professionalism in public servants, he authorized substantial increases in salary and benefits for government employees. Nevertheless, during his first three years in office he found it necessary to fire a number of bureaucrats found guilty of peculation. In another major political reform, in 1953 President Ruiz Cortines prodded his congress to pass legislation enfranchising the Mexican women in all elections. This long overdue political reform culminated years of active campaigning by women's organizations throughout the country.
Ruiz Cortines presided over a healthy Mexican economy. At a time when inflation was beginning to cripple other Latin American economies, he was able to keep it in check. He tightened monetary and fiscal policies and the Mexican gross national product responded by recording impressive gains during each year of his administration. The country weathered the world recession of 1952 with but few ill effects. Foreign capital and stepped up government financing encouraged rapid industrial growth. The exploitation of newly discovered oil fields provided a reliable source of government revenue, as did the exploitation of natural gas reserves. With the solid economic foundation in place and with improvements recorded in tax collection procedures the president was able to step up some important social services. Most significant was the expansion of the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social, Mexico's social security agency. Concerned that rural Mexico was not receiving its fair share of the benefits of a productive Mexican society, Ruiz Cortines extended social security coverage to the rural areas for the first time in the country's history. Throughout his administration relations with the United States were excellent.
Ruiz Cortines is not remembered for having initiated many new grandiose public works projects. Rather, he sought to consolidate the series of programs begun by his predecessors. Initial fears that he would be dominated by Miguel Alemán proved groundless. Not a man motivated by ideology, he set a good example with his own integrity and firmness. His years in the presidency were successful ones. In his own quiet way he restored confidence in the Mexican political system and brought an enviable measure of unity to his country. History remembers his presidency most kindly.
Further Reading
No adequate biography of Ruiz Cortines exists either in English or in Spanish. Political aspects of the presidential administration, however, can be traced in Frank Brandenburg, The Making of Modern Mexico (1964); Howard F. Cline, Mexico: Revolution to Evolution, 1940-1960 (1964); and Robert E. Scott, Mexican Government in Transition (1959). Economic policies are treated in Raymond Vernon, The Dilemma of Mexico's Development: The Role of the Private and Public Sectors (1963).
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Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
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Adolfo Ruiz Cortines
| Adolfo Ruiz Cortines | |
|---|---|
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 47th President of Mexico |
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| In office 1 December 1952 – 30 November 1958 |
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| Preceded by | Miguel Alemán Valdés |
| Succeeded by | Adolfo López Mateos |
| Governor of Veracruz | |
| In office 1 December 1944 – April 1948 |
|
| Preceded by | Jorge Cerdán Lara |
| Succeeded by | Ángel Carvajal Bernal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 December 1890 Veracruz, Veracruz |
| Died | 3 December 1973 (aged 82) Mexico City |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Political party | Institutional Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse(s) | María Dolores Izaguirre |
| He was the first Governor of Veracruz to serve a 6-year long term. | |
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (30 December 1890 – 3 December 1973) was President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was one of the oldest presidents of Mexico, perhaps best remembered for granting women the right to vote in presidential elections and stimulating the Mexican economy.
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Childhood and education
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was born on 30 December 1889 in the state of Veracruz. His parents were Adolfo Ruiz Tejada, the governor of Veracruz at that time, and María Cortines Cotera. Ruiz’s father Adolfo Ruiz Tejada died when he was young. Then Adolfo was raised and educated by his mother.[1]
His mother taught him to write and to read at the age of 3. Later, he entered a school directed by Joaquín Jerónimo Diaz and Florencio Veyro. At the age of twelve he attended the “Instituto de Veracruz,” where he studied accounting. Adolfo Ruiz Cortines pursued his secondary educational studies at the “Colegio de los Jesuitas,” which was considered the best school in the state of Veracruz. Adolfo learned from his mentors about liberalism, a political principle he would apply during his entire political career. In addition, he acquired his fanaticism for baseball there. He always wanted to study at university, but circumstances never permitted him to do so. At the age of 16 he was forced to abandon his formal studies. Finding himself the head of his family, he found a job as an accounting assistant at a commercial clothing enterprise to support his relatives.[1]
Military career
In 1909 Adolfo read the book "La sucesión presidencial de 1910 (The presidential Succession of 1910)” written by Francisco I. Madero and published in 1909, the leader of the opposition against the presidency of General Diaz. This book motivated his interest in politics. In 1910 the Mexican Revolution started and he became influenced by several of its main players such as Pascual Orozco and Francisco Villa. Because of this influence in the year of 1912 at the age of 23 he migrated to Mexico City. During his stay in Mexico City, President Madero was assassinated and Victoriano Huerta took power. Since he was against the Huerta he joined revolutionary forces under the command of Alfredo Robles the right hand of the revolutionary leader Venustiano Carranza. Robles was in charge of the revolutionary forces in the south and center of Mexico.[1]
Political career
In 1935 at 45 years of age Adolfo started his political career as the director in charge of Mexico City. It was during that time when he met Miguel Alemán Váldez a young lawyer that would become president of Mexico. Five years later the president Manuel Ávila Camacho designated Miguel Aleman as "Minister of Government" (Secretario de Gobernación), an important position. Miguel Aleman asked Adolfo to join him as his sub-secretary because of their close relation. This position gave Adolfo the opportunity to obtain influence within the main political party at that time [Institutional Revolutionary Party] “PRI”. After several years the PRI designated him as candidate for the government of Veracruz.[1]
Governor of Veracruz
On December 1944 Adolfo Ruiz Cortines became governor of Veracruz. During his administration, he expanded public education in the state. Some of the institutions he founded were the Technical Studies Institute (Departamento para estudios técnicos) which provided people with a practical education that allowed them to improve their life quality. Furthermore, he founded the Institute of Anthropology, the State Planning Committee among others. He also modified the local Constitution to allow women to participate in the local and municipal elections. He built roads and bridges to develop Veracruz's infrastructure since it was one of the main ports of Mexico at that time.[2]
President of Mexico
On 14 October 1951, Ruiz Cortines was named candidate for the presidency by the Institutional Revolutionary Party. The people gave him their support in the polls. On 10 December 1952, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines took over the presidency of the republic. He exercised tight control of public expenditure, supported the construction of roads, railways, dams, schools and hospitals. He also implemented a plan called "March to the Sea", which the aim of carrying coastal population of the highlands to the coast, and make better use and development of marine resources, coastal zones. Under this program malaria was eradicated. He created the Rural Social Welfare Program to improve the living conditions of the rural population and encouraged land distribution. Large foreign estates were expropriated. Furthermore he implemented the Farm Security to protect farmers from natural disasters.[2]
At the beginning of his term, President Ruiz Cortines sent a bill to amend Article 34 of the Constitution, in order to grant women equal political rights with men, this granted the vote to Mexican women. In order to promote measures to meet the need of homes, he created the National Housing Institute, gave a stimulus to industry, particularly small and medium sized, laid the foundation for the development of the petrochemical industry and promoted the creation of jobs.[2]
In response to the technical advances in the field of nuclear energy, and considering that Mexico could not remain unaffected by this development he created the National Nuclear Energy Commission. Primary and secondary education were boosted greatly.He specially supported the polytechnic university. Adolfo equipped the facilities of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and began subsidies to support universities through the republic.[2]
Another primary goal of his government was to improve the health of men and women from Mexico. Therefore he fought children malnutrition and promoted an immunization campaign.[2]
Internal Politics
Ruiz Cortines turned his attention to social problems and imposed an era of austerity in the Mexican government. He modified the law in order to promote responsibility and honesty among public servants since there was a lot of corruption. Ruiz Cortines created a law that forced public servants to declare their assets before beginning to work in the government. Ruiz’s purpose was to compare the public servants fortune before and after their participation in public charges to combat illicit enrichment and corruption.[2]
Ruiz's government decided to reduce public spending to consolidate public finances and fight inflation. This policy allowed Mexico's economy to grow at an enormous rate since for the first time in many years the Mexican government generated a budget surplus. Unfortunately, in 1953 private investment went down and Ruiz Cortines lost popularity. He reoriented his policy towards boosting production.[2]
Foreign Relations
During Ruiz's term Mexico had cold diplomatic relationships with the United States of America. This was because Ruiz refused to make any agreements that committed Mexico's participation in international wars. During his term Ruiz completed the construction of projects like Falcon dam, built with a 58.6% equity and 41.4% Mexican American founds. In 1956, Ruiz attended a meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower and Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent of Canada. During the interview the leaders discussed immigration issues, economic cooperation, civil aviation and illegal fishing in coastal areas. In general President Ruiz's foreign policy was conservative and respectful of the sovereignty of other nations. And although he was a kind man, he had created differences between all the other leaders during his time.[3]
Post presidency
On 10 December 1958 Adolfo handed over power to his successor Adolfo Lopez Mateo. After this he left politics and retired to his private life at a late stage of his life. In his last days, his friend Manuel Caldelas Garcia, a politician who was known in his youth, began living with him at his home in Veracruz. Caldelas he helped with household chores and took care of former President Ruiz Cortines. On the afternoon of 3 December 1973, the health status of Ruiz Cortines became critical. Dr. Mario Díaz Tejeda went to the home to treat the condition of the former president. When the drugs took effect on him, Ruiz Cortines fell asleep. At 21:05 am on Monday, 3 December 1973, Tomás Adolfo Ruiz Cortines died at 82 years old victim of heart failure caused by arteriosclerosis.[3]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Miguel Alemán Valdés |
President of Mexico 1 December 1952 – 30 November 1958 |
Succeeded by Adolfo López Mateos |
References
- ^ a b c d Fernández, Íñigo (2008) (in spanish). México Contemporáneo I [contemporary history of Mexico]. 1. México, MX: In Pearson Educación. p. 338. ISBN 3.
- ^ a b c d e f g Krauze, Enrique (1999) (in spanish). el sexenio de Ruiz Cortines [Ruiz Cortines Term]. México, MX: Clio. p. 100. ISBN 4.
- ^ a b Gilberto Bermudez (2006). "Adolfo Ruiz Cortines [Adolfo Ruiz Cortines]" (in Spanish). México: Gobierno del Estado de Veracruz. http://portal.veracruz.gob.mx/portal/page?_pageid=153,4202638&_dad=portal&_schema=portal. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
- (Spanish) Mexican government biography
- Online biography
- Camp, Roderic A. Mexican Political Biographies. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona, 1982.
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