Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz (February 4, 1881 – August 12, 1939) was a general in the Mexican Revolution from state of Coahuila. He is most notable for his election as provisional president of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

during the Aguascalientes Convention and led the country for a few months between November 6, 1914, and January 16, 1915. The Convention was convened by revolutionaries who had successfully ousted the regime of

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wit ...

after more than a year of conflict. Gutiérrez rather than "First Chief" (''Primer Jefe'')

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...

was chosen president of Mexico and a new round of violence broke out as revolutionary factions previously united turned against each other. "The high point of Gutiérrez's career occurred when he moved with the Conventionist army to shoulder the responsibilities of his new office

f president F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...

"Marcoux, Carl Henry. "Eulalio Gutiérrez" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', vol. 1, p. 620. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997. Gutiérrez's government was weak and he could not control the two main generals of the Army of the Convention,

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

and

Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...

. Gutiérrez moved the capital of his government from Mexico City to San Luis Potosí. He resigned as president and made peace with Carranza. He went into exile in the United States, but later returned to Mexico. He died in 1939, outliving many other major figures of the Mexican Revolution.

Biography

Early life and political career

He was born on the Hacienda de Santo Domingo, in the municipality of

Ramos Arizpe Ramos Arizpe () is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Ramos Arizpe is located 11 km from the state capital of Saltillo. It is part of the Saltillo metropolitan area. The city ...

, Coahuila. In his youth he was a shepherd and a miner in

Concepción del Oro Concepción del Oro is the largest city and the seat of the Concepción del Oro Municipality in the Mexican state of Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zac ...

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

, where after some years he was named mayor of the municipality. After joining

Ricardo Flores Magón Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón (, known as Ricardo Flores Magón; September 16, 1874 – November 21, 1922) was a noted Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique and Jesús were also active in politics. Followers of ...

Mexican Liberal Party The Mexican Liberal Party (PLM; es, Partido Liberal Mexicano) was started in August 1900 when engineer Camilo Arriaga published a manifesto entitled ''Invitacion al Partido Liberal'' (Invitation to the Liberal Party). The invitation was addr ...

(''Partido Liberal Mexicano'') for a short period, he affiliated with the Anti-reelectionist Party (''Partido Antirreleccionista'') of

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

in 1909.Marcoux, "Eulalio Gutiérrez", p. 619. As with many revolutionaries, Gutiérrez was not a trained soldier, but combat in the Mexican Revolution showed his skill. He participated in the Mexican Revolution, after which he returned to his native

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

where he was elected mayor of Ramos Arizpe. After the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

, he took up arms again and placed himself under the orders of

Pablo González Garza Pablo González Garza (May 5, 1879 in Lampazos de Naranjo, Nuevo León – March 4, 1950 in Monterrey, Nuevo León) was a Mexican General during the Mexican Revolution.Rutas de la Revolucion (Routes of Revolution), Ruta de Pablo González ...

in the

Constitutionalist Army The Constitutional Army ( es, Ejército constitucionalista; also known as the Constitutionalist Army) was the army that fought against the Federal Army, and later, against the Villistas and Zapatistas during the Mexican Revolution. It was forme ...

. During the Aguascalientes Convention, he was named the provisional president of the Republic on November 1, 1914, and assumed the position two days later. His cabinet was composed of

Lucio Blanco Lucio Blanco (July 21, 1879 – June 1922) was a Mexican military officer and revolutionary, noteworthy for his participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920. Biography Lucio Blanco was born on July 21, 1879 in Nadadores, Coahuila. ...

as Interior Minister;

José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities ...

as Minister for Public Instruction and Fine Arts; Valentín Gama as Minister for Public Works; Felícitos Villarreal as Finance Minister;

José Isabel Robles José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

as Minister of War (''Guerra y Marina'');

Manuel Palafox Manuel Palafox (born Puebla, 1886–1959) was a Mexican politician, soldier and intellectual. Palafox studied in Puebla, his city of birth, and became an entrepreneur. In 1911, he joined the Liberation Army of the South (AWL) of Emiliano Zap ...

as Agriculture Minister; Manuel Chao as Mayor of the

Distrito Federal A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...

; Mateo Almanza as Commander of the National Guard (''Guarnición de México''), and Pánfilo Natera as president of the Supreme Military Tribunal. A month after he took office, revolutionary leaders

Francisco Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

and

took

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Gutiérrez's government was moved to the national capital, now in the hands of the Army of the Convention. Relations with Villa were strained to the point Villa had ordered the Minister of War (his superior), to execute President Gutiérrez in January 1915. In 1915, Gutiérrez told Vasconcelos that "The Mexican landscape smells of blood."quoted in Enrique Krauze, ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', New York: HarperCollins 1997, p. 722. Gutiérrez decided to leave the capital on January 16, 1915, and moved his government to San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, where he declared both Villa and Carranza traitors to the "revolutionary spirit" and formally resigned the presidency on July 2, 1915. Another source gives the date of his resignation as May 1915.

Later years

After exiling himself to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, he returned to Mexico in 1920 under the amnesty of

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

and was elected senator and governor of Coahuila in 1928. Later on, he publicly criticized the re-election of Álvaro Obregón in 1928 (assassinated before he could take office) and the

Maximato The ''Maximato'' was a transitional period in the historical and political development of Mexico from 1928 to 1934. Named after former president Plutarco Elías Calles's sobriquet ''el Jefe Máximo'' (the maximum leader), the ''Maximato'' was ...

of former president

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...

(the period during which Calles was ''Jefe Máximo'', "Maximum Chief", and ruled via puppet presidents). He joined the rebellion of José Gonzalo Escobar. After the defeat of that rebellion, he exiled himself to

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and did not return to Mexico until 1935. Four years later, he died in the city of

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...

Biography

Early life and political career

Later years

See also

References

Further reading