José Tomás Medina Menéndez (June 1803 – 13 February 1884) was a Salvadoran politician who served as

vice president of El Salvador The vice president of El Salvador () is a political position in El Salvador which is elected concurrently with the position of President of El Salvador. A list of the office holders follows. The list may not be complete. List of vice president ...

from 1852 to 1854 and as acting

president of El Salvador President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

from 1 to 3 February 1848. He also served as a deputy, a senator, and as the governor of the

Sonsonate Department Sonsonate () is a department of El Salvador in the western part of the country. The capital is Sonsonate. The department has an area of 1,226 km². Created on June 12, 1824, the El Salvador National Parliament decided on January 29, 1859 ...

Early life

José Tomás Medina Menéndez was born in Santa Ana,

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

in June 1803. His parents were José Bernardo Medina and Juana Medina, both Spaniards. Medina married Gertrudis Rodríguez on 9 March 1831. In 1833, Medina purchased the Apanteos windmill, and in 1836, he purchased the San Juan del Campo and San Isidro haciendas; these purchases costed around 80,000 Salvadoran pesos. From 1848 until his death, Medina was continuously elected as the "great brother" ("") of the Clarity Commission.

Political career

On 1 February 1848, Media became the acting

, succeeding

Eugenio Aguilar Eugenio Aguilar González (15 November 1804 – 23 April 1879) was a Salvadoran politician who served as president of El Salvador from 1846 to 1848. He also served as the mayor of San Salvador in 1839 and 1864, and the president of the Legisla ...

. He served in an acting capacity until either President-elect Doroteo Vasconcelos or Vice President-elect José Félix Quirós could assume office. On 3 February, Medina relinquished power to Vice President José Félix Quirós, who also assumed the presidency in an acting capacity. Medina served as

from 1 February 1852 to 1 February 1854 under President

Francisco Dueñas Francisco Dueñas Díaz (3 December 1810 – 4 March 1884) was a Salvadoran politician and lawyer who served as President of El Salvador on six different occasions between 1851 and 1871. He also served as Vice President of El Salvador from 18 ...

. He served as the governor of the department of

Sonsonate Sonsonate () is a city and district of El Salvador, of which it is also its municipal seat. It has an estimated population of 71,980 inhabitants for the year 2020. Sonsonate is the second most important city in western El Salvador. The town was ...

for eight months during 1854. succeeded Medina as governor. In January 1859, Medina became a member of the Chamber of Deputies from the department of Santa Ana. In January 1860, he became a senator from Santa Ana. The senate named him as the second presidential designee in the event that the president, vice president, or first designee were unable to exercise power. Medina served as a senator until 1863 when the senate was dissolved by Dueñas following the War of 1863 and the overthrow of President

Gerardo Barrios José Gerardo Barrios Espinoza (September/October 1813 – 29 August 1865) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as president of El Salvador on three occasions between June 1858 and his overthrow in October 1863. Born in 1 ...

. After the war, Medina was imprisoned in Guatemala for five months and had all his properties confiscated. After being freed, Medina left for exile in the United Kingdom, however, he did eventually return to El Salvador.

Death

Media died to a throat infection on 13 February 1884 at 10 p.m. local time at the Santa Ana hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Tomas 1803 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Salvadoran people Deaths from infectious disease People from Santa Ana Department Presidents of El Salvador Vice presidents of El Salvador Salvadoran people of Spanish descent