Clímaco Calderón Reyes (August 23, 1852 – July 19, 1913) was a Colombian lawyer and politician, who became 15th

President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...

for one day, following the death of President

Francisco Javier Zaldúa Francisco Javier Martínez de Zaldúa y Racines was a Colombian lawyer and politician, who was elected as President of Colombia in 1882. Early life Zaldúa was born in Bogotá, Cundinamarca, on December 3, 1811. His father was don Manuel Maria ...

Biographic data

Calderón was born in Santa Rosa de Viterbo,

Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...

, on August 23, 1852, in what was then the

Republic of New Granada The Republic of New Granada was a Centralism, centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil that existed from 1831 to 1858. ...

. He died in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Cundinamarca on July 19, 1913, at the age of 60.

Personal life

His parents were Carlos Calderón Reyes and Clotilde Reyes Fonseca,

half sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised ...

of future President

Rafael Reyes Prieto Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Pos ...

. He was married to Amelia Pérez Triana, daughter of President

Santiago Pérez de Manosalba Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, ...

. After finishing school in his native city, he attended

Our Lady of the Rosary University The Universidad del Rosario, officially Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, is a Colombian private university founded on Roman Catholic principles, by Fray Cristobal de Torres in 1653. Located in Bogotá, due to its important place in ...

, where he graduated with a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, where he also worked as professor of

Civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

and

Penal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is esta ...

Political career

Calderón started his political ascend in Boyacá where he was

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

in the

Circuit court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...

, deputy in the Legislative Assembly, and Director of Education during the administration of José Eusebio Otálora. During the Administration of Francisco Javier Zaldúa he was named Attorney General of the Nation. On December 21, 1882, following the death of President Zaldúa, Calderón became President of Colombia in accordance to the presidential line of succession, which indicated that given the death of the sitting president, the presidency would fall to the first and second

designate Designation (from Latin ''designatio'') is the process of determining an incumbent's successor. A candidate that won an election, for example, is the ''designated'' holder of the office the candidate has been elected to, up until the candidate's ...

s respectively, but at the time of Zaldúa's death the Designates,

Rafael Núñez Rafael Wenceslao Núñez Moledo (September 28, 1825 – September 18, 1894) was a Colombian author, lawyer, journalist and politician, who was elected president of Colombia in 1880 and in 1884. Núñez was the leader of the so-called " Regener ...

and José Eusebio Otálora were absent, and in this case, the

Attorney General of Colombia The Attorney General of Colombia (Attorney General of the Nation) is the head of the Attorney General's Office of the Nation of Colombia and the principal law enforcement official. The attorney general acts as the main head of criminal prosecuti ...

would hold the executive power, thus making Calderón Reyes the 17th President of the United States of Colombia. Calderón also worked as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, and Colombian

Consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

and

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

The Presidency

His presidency is the shortest in the

History of Colombia The history of Colombia includes its settlement by indigenous peoples and the establishment of agrarian societies, notably the Muisca Confederation, Quimbaya Civilization, and Tairona Chiefdoms. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a p ...

. The only

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

he carried out was ordering his troops, that were under the command of General

Sergio Camargo Sergio Andres Camargo Peñaranda (born August 16, 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. Club career Toronto FC In 2009, Camargo went on trial with Vitória de G ...

, to disobey orders given by the now deceased president Zaldúa, who had commanded General Camargo to ready his troops to take military action on Congress for their opposition against him. The next day, on December 22, Calderón handed down the presidency to José Eusebio Otálora. Even though Calderón only served as president for one day, Calderón was granted the benefits of an Ex-President and it is included in the presidential line along with his predecessor and successor. After his short presidency, Calderón became an important Colombian diplomat, serving for nearly twenty years in the

first as

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of Colombia to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and subsequently as Colombian Minister to Washington, and was named

by President

Rafael Reyes Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Pos ...

on October 27, 1904.

Literary work

Calderón had a special interest on history and

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and wrote some books on this subjects. * ''El Curso Forzoso en los Estados Unidos'' New York. La América Editorial Company, 1892. * ''Elementos de Hacienda Pública'' Bogotá. Imprenta de "La Luz", 1911. * ''Colombia 1893''.Colombia 1893 / by CliÌmaco CalderoÌn and Edward E. Britton. (WorldCat.org)
at worldcat.org * ''La moneda en la época colonial'' * ''Memorias sobre amonestación en el Nuevo Reino de Granada'' * ''Los bancos americanos''

References