# Isaías Medina Angarita

Isaías Medina Angarita (6 July 1897 – 15 September 1953) was a Venezuelan military and political leader, the president of Venezuela from 1941 until 1945, during World War II. He followed the path of his predecessor Eleazar López Contreras, and ruled the country's democratic transition process.

## Career

Medina was born in San Cristóbal, Venezuela, and graduated from the Military academy of Venezuela in 1914. He served as War Minister from 1936 to 1941 under López Contreras. As a result of the indirect 1941 Venezuelan presidential election, he was appointed president by lawmakers of the Congress of Venezuela. He assumed the presidency on 5 May 1941. In 1943, he founded the Venezuelan Democratic Party. Medina Angarita was the first Venezuelan president who traveled abroad (in active office). First, in 1943 to the Bolivarian countries, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Panama, and in January 1944, the United States invited by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The visit marked a milestone in the Venezuelan-US relations. Besides being the first time a Venezuelan president (in office) visited the United States, the time the journey was made was understood as an expression of the alliance of Venezuela with the Allies that fought the Axis. During the administration of Medina, Venezuela established relations with China in 1943 and the Soviet Union in 1945. Some in the Army considered his presidential regime too liberal while other political enemies accused him of being too conservative, and both sides were involved in a coup to remove him from power on 18 October 1945. Medina died, aged 56, in Caracas.

## Medina's cabinet (1941–1945)

Ministries :
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| President | Isaías Medina Angarita | 1941–1945 |
| Home Affairs | Tulio Chiossone | 1941–1942 |
| | César González | 1942–1943 |
| | Juan Penzini Hernández | 1943 |
| | José Nicomedes Rivas | 1943–1945 |
| | Arturo Uslar Pietri | 1945 |
| Outer Relations | Caracciolo Parra Pérez | 1941–1945 |
| | Gustavo Herrera | 1945 |
| Finance | Alfredo Machado Hernández | 1941–1943 |
| | Arturo Uslar Pietri | 1943 |
| | Rodolfo Rojas | 1943–1945 |
| | Alfonso Espinoza | 1945 |
| War and Navy | Antonio Chalbaud Cardona | 1941–1942 |
| | Juan de Dios Celis Paredes | 1942–1943 |
| | Carlos Meyer Baldo | 1943 |
| | Manuel Morán | 1943–1945 |
| | Delfín Becerra | 1945 |
| Development | Enrique Jorge Aguerrevere | 1941–1942 |
| | Eugenio Mendoza | 1942–1943 |
| | Gustavo Herrera | 1943–1945 |
| | Juan de Dios Celis Paredes | 1945 |
| Public Works | Manuel Silveira | 1941–1945 |
| Education | Alejandro Fuenmayor | 1941 |
| | Gustavo Herrera | 1941–1943 |
| | Rafael Vegas | 1943–1945 |
| Work and Communications | Numa Quevedo | 1941 |
| | Ovidio Pérez Ágreda | 1941–1942 |
| | Héctor Cuenca | 1942–1943 |
| | Julio Diez | 1943–1945 |
| Agriculture | Saverio Barbarito | 1941 |
| | Rodolfo Rojas | 1941–1943 |
| | Ángel Biagini | 1943–1945 |
| Health and Social Assistance | Félix Lairet | 1941–1945 |
| Secretary of the Presidency | Arturo Uslar Pietri | 1941–1943 |
| | Ángel Biagini | 1943 |
| | Arturo Uslar Pietri | 1943 |
| | Pedro Sotillo | 1943–1945 |

## Personal life

Isaías Medina Angarita was married to Irma Felizola, who served as First Lady of Venezuela from 1941 to 1945.
* Irma Felizola