Francisco I. Madero

Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a Mexican statesman, writer, and revolutionary who served as the 33rd president of Mexico from 1911 until his assassination in 1913. He was an advocate for social justice and democracy. Madero was notable for having challenged Mexican President Porfirio Díaz for the presidency in 1910 and being instrumental in sparking the Mexican Revolution.
Born into an extremely wealthy landowning family in northern Mexico, Madero was an unusual politician, who until he ran for president in the 1910 elections, had never held office. In his 1908 book entitled The Presidential Succession in 1910, Madero called on voters to prevent the sixth reelection of Porfirio Díaz, which Madero considered anti-democratic. His vision would lay the foundation for a democratic, 20th-century Mexico but without polarizing the social classes. To that effect, he bankrolled the Anti-Reelectionist Party and urged the Mexicans to rise up against Díaz, which ignited the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Madero's candidacy against Díaz garnered widespread support in Mexico, since he was someone of independent financial means, ideological determination, and bravery to oppose Díaz when it was dangerous to do so. Arrested by the dictatorship shortly after being declared Presidential candidate by his party, the opposition leader escaped from prison and launched the Plan of San Luis Potosí from the United States, in this manner beginning the Mexican Revolution.


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