Pedro José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María Lascuráin Paredes (8 May 1856 – 21 July 1952)
[Lascuráin, un presidente tan fugaz como medio partido de fútbol](_blank)
/ref>[ (in Spanish)] was a Mexican politician who served as the 38th President of Mexico
The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...
for less than one hour (45 minutes) on February 19, 1913, the shortest presidency in history. He had earlier served as Mexico's foreign secretary for two terms and was the director of a small law school in Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
for sixteen years.
Early life
Perdo Lascuráin was born in 1858 in the Rancho la Romita (now Colonia Roma
Colonia Roma, also called La Roma or simply, Roma, is a district located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City just west of the city's historic center, and in fact is no longer a single '' colonia'' (neighbourhood) but now two officially de ...
) in Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. He was the son of Francisco Lascuráin Icaza and Ana Paredes Cortés. His family was wealthy and very religious. His family was of Basque origin by maternal line, established in Mexico in the early nineteenth century.
Early career
Lascuráin received a law degree in 1880 from the Escuela Nacional de Jurisprudencia (National School of Jurisprudence) in Mexico City. He was mayor of Mexico City
The Head of Government ( es, Jefe de Gobierno) wields the executive power in Mexico City.
The Head of Government serves a six-year term, running concurrently with that of the President of the Republic.
Mexico City, or CDMX, is the seat of natio ...
in 1910 when Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and Public figure, statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in Ten Tragic Da ...
began a campaign against the re-election of Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
. Lascuráin was a supporter of Madero, and after Madero was elected president to replace Díaz, Lascuráin served twice as foreign secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
in Madero's cabinet (10 April 1912 to 4 December 1912 and 15 January 1913 to 19 February 1913). In between the two terms, he again became mayor of the Mexico City. As foreign secretary, he had to deal with the demands of U.S. Ambassador
Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the President of the United States, president to serve as the country's diplomat, diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as Ambassador-at-large, ...
Henry Lane Wilson
Henry Lane Wilson (November 3, 1857 – December 22, 1932) was an American attorney who was appointed by President William Howard Taft to the post of United States Ambassador to Mexico in 1910. He brought together opponents of Mexico's democra ...
.
Presidency
On 19 February 1913, General 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 ...
overthrew Madero. Lascuráin was one of the people who convinced Madero to resign the presidency while he was being held prisoner in the National Palace and claimed that his life was in danger if he refused.
Under the 1857 Constitution of Mexico
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857 ( es, Constitución Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos de 1857), often called simply the Constitution of 1857, was the liberal constitution promulgated in 1857 by Constituent Cong ...
, the vice-president, the attorney general, the foreign secretary, and the interior secretary stood in line to the presidency. As well as Madero, Huerta had ousted Vice-President José María Pino Suárez
José María Pino Suárez (; September 8, 1869 – February 22, 1913) was a Mexican statesman, lawyer, writer and newspaper proprietor who was a key figure of the Mexican Revolution and served as the 7th and last Vice President of Mexico fro ...
and Attorney General Adolfo Valles Baca. To give 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 ...
some appearance of legality, he had Lascuráin, as foreign secretary, assume the presidency, who would then appoint him as his interior secretary, making Huerta next in line to the presidency, and then resign.
The presidency thus passed to Huerta. As a consequence, Lascuráin was president for less than an hour; sources quote figures ranging from 15 to 56 minutes. To date, Lascuráin's presidency is the shortest in history.
Huerta called a late-night special session of Congress, and under the guns of his troops, the legislators endorsed his assumption of power. A few days later, Huerta had Madero and Pino Suárez killed. The coup and the events surrounding it became known as ''La decena trágica
The Ten Tragic Days ( es, La Decena Trágica) during the Mexican Revolution is the name now given to a multi-day coup d'etat in Mexico City by opponents of Francisco I. Madero, the democratically elected president of Mexico, between 9 - 19 Feb ...
'' ("the tragic ten ays).
Later life
Huerta offered Lascuráin a post in his cabinet, but Lascuráin declined. He retired from politics and began practicing again as a lawyer. He was the director of the Escuela Libre de Derecho, a conservative law school, for 16 years and published extensively on commercial and civil law. Lascuráin died on July 21, 1952 at the age of 96, the second oldest former Mexican president.
See also
* List of heads of state of Mexico
Notes
References
* "Lascuráin Paredes, Pedro", ''Enciclopedia de México'', vol. 8. Mexico City, 1996,
* Altamirano Cozzi, Graziella, ''Pedro Lascurain: Un hombre en la encrucijada de la revolución''. Instituto Mora, 2004,
* García Purón, Manuel, ''México y sus gobernantes'', v. 2. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
* Orozco Linares, Fernando, ''Gobernantes de México''. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985,
External links
La decena trágica
by Alejandro Rosas
Brief biography at Encarta
A little more biographical information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lascurain, Pedro
1856 births
1952 deaths
People from Mexico City
Mexican people of Basque descent
Presidents of Mexico
Mexican jurists
Mexican Secretaries of Foreign Affairs
People of the Mexican Revolution
20th-century Mexican politicians