The murder of Sidónio Pais heralded a traumatic time for the First Republic. Essentially a populist, charismatic leader, Pais portrayed himself as the last hope of a doomed country, and was widely perceived as such. This explains why his assassination had such a huge, and long-lasting influence on Portuguese politics. From then on, most political stability disappeared, leading to a permanent crisis that only ended nearly eight years later when the 28 May 1926 coup d'état set up the ensuing forty years of dictatorship.