René Schick Gutiérrez (23 November 1909 – 3 August 1966) was a

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

n politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as the 51st

President of Nicaragua The co-presidents of Nicaragua (), officially known as the presidency of the Republic of Nicaragua (), are the heads of state and head of government, government of Nicaragua. The office was created in the Constitution of 1854. From 1825 until ...

from 1963 until his death in 1966. He was previously the

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, ...

under President

Luis Somoza Debayle Luis Anastasio Somoza Debayle (18 November 1922 – 13 April 1967) was the 50th President of Nicaragua from 1957 until his resignation in 1963. He succeeded to the presidency following the death of his father, Anastasio Somoza García. The Somoz ...

from 1961 to 1962 and as well as the Minister of Education from 1957 to 1962.

Biography

Schick was born in León. Of Austrian ancestry, Schick's father died in 1911, leaving his family in a precarious economic situation; during his childhood, Schick had to work as a

shoeshiner Shoeshiner or boot polisher is an occupation in which a person cleans and buffs shoes and then applies shoe polish, a waxy paste to give a shiny appearance and a protective coating. They are often known as shoeshine boys because the job was tr ...

. During his secondary studies at the ''Instituto Nacional de Occidente'' in León, Schick's good results caught the attention of the school's director, J. Ramón Sevilla, who secured him employment at the school. After Sevilla was named Minister of Education under President

Anastasio Somoza García Anastasio Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was the leader of Nicaragua from 1936 until his assassination in 1956. He was officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 unt ...

in 1937, Schick was employed as a civil servant in the government. After completing law studies at the National University of Nicaragua in

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

and working as a professor there, he worked as a lawyer from the early 1940's. Schick entered diplomatic service in 1946, as

charge d'affaires Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aq ...

at the Embassy of Nicaragua in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He would go on to serve as Nicaragua's Ambassador to the OAS, the UN and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Political career

Schick's political career began in 1957, when he was named Minister of Education under

. In 1961 he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs, and served in this position until 1962, when he resigned to run as presidential candidate for the Nationalist Liberal Party in the 1963 general election. A close associate of the ruling

Somoza family The Somoza family () is a political family which ruled Nicaragua under a dictatorship over a period of forty-three years, from 1936 to 1979. Founder, Anastasio Somoza García – who served as the President of Nicaragua from 1937 until 1956 – ...

, Schick won the election by a wide margin, and was installed as the country's president on 1 May 1963. As President, Schick continued the staunch anti-communist policies of his predecessor Luis Somoza Debayle, whom he appointed as head of the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

. Still, certain pressures on the opposition were eased. In foreign policy, he was a staunch supporter of

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 ...

intervention in the Americas. He accused

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

of being behind the guerrilla activities that started taking place in Nicaragua during the 1960's, and described

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

as a serious threat to the security of the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

in a speech before the UN, leading to a further deterioration of the already strained relations between the two countries. In 1964, the Panama Flag Crisis led the United States to reconsider constructing a new canal on Nicaraguan territory; Schick, as a compensation, signed an alliance with the United States, according to which the installation in Nicaragua of

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

s aimed at Cuba was allowed. He visited the United States in June 1966, meeting with President,

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

on June 9.Lyndon B. Johnson: "Remarks of Welcome to President Schick of Nicaragua on the South Lawn at the White House, The American Presidency Project, June 9, 1966
/ref> In domestic policies, Schick's main objective was the stabilization of Nicaragua's economy. He allowed his country to enter the

Central American Common Market The Central American Integration System (, or SICA) has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. On 13 December 1991, the ODECA countries (Spanish: ''Organización de Estados Centroamericano ...

, and had agrarian reforms approved in Congress. In March 1966, he proposed a reform of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, which would increase the duration of the presidential term from four to five years, reduce the number of vice presidents from three to two, and allow

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. Schick

died in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The deat ...

from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 3 August 1966, at the age of 56. He was succeeded by

Lorenzo Guerrero Lorenzo Guerrero Gutiérrez (13 November 1900 – 15 April 1981) was a politician who was a physician and surgeon by profession. He was mayor of his native Granada (1932), minister of Education (1934–1937), ambassador to Mexico (1937 and 1945 ...

, a relative of Schick, who had served as one of his vice presidents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schick Gutierrez, Rene 1909 births 1966 deaths People from León, Nicaragua 20th-century presidents of Nicaragua Ministers of foreign affairs of Nicaragua Permanent representatives of Nicaragua to the United Nations Permanent representatives of Nicaragua to the Organization of American States Ambassadors of Nicaragua to Venezuela Nationalist Liberal Party politicians Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany National presidents who died in office