Evening star., 1940-12-02
BY WILLIAM d. PATTERSON,
Associated Press Foreign CORRESPONDENT.

| Associated Press Foreign CORRESPONDENTS.
MEXICO CITY, Dec. "A quiet
hammered veteran Of one Of Mexi-
cos two major revolutions and Of
numerous rebellions assumed yes
terday the task Of uniting nation
badly divided by a turbulent presi-
Dental campaign.
Solid, sober, conservative, 43-year-
old Gen. Manuel Avila Camacho.
inaugurated as the republics forty
sixth President, succeeded his long
time friend and current backer,
Lazaro Cardenas.
On husky Gen. Avila Camacho's
bull-like shoulders and imperturable
temper rest the burden of solving
the complex economic and political
problems, such as the oil expropria-
ton controversy, left him by his
predecessor and Of consolidating
the social advances of Cardenas'
radical administration.
The new Presidents friends, and
even his critics, say he Is suited by
temperament and experience for this
difficult task.
Remuneration of all presidential
claims by Gen. Juan Andrea Alma
zan, unsuccessful independent can
didate, has apparently liquidated
the possibility that the President
elect might have had to defend his
government on the battlefield.
Did Much for Army.
| n,,+ Io}I1aGa1l Ho,.rl1u xroiild
have been a new experience for
him. Gen. Avila Camacho rose to
the top in an era when politically
ambitious young men made their
way by fighting in the nations fire.
quent rebellions. He seemed to have
a political instinct right at the out
set, for he always fought on the
winning side.
Today, squat, sturdy and heavy in
the girth, he is still fundamentally
soldier, but he Is ready to tackle
any political or economic issue.
AS Minister of National Defense
under President Cardenas, Gen.
Avila Camacho in two years won
prominence for undermining the
army and making it one of the
finest educational institutions in
Mexico Schools were established at
which ambitious soldiers could even
obtain degrees in medicine, engi-
neering and law.
This emphasis of soldier on
education did not surprise the gen.
erals intimate friends. They knew
that one of his principal recrea-
tions was reading.
Well Stocked Library.
His library is stocked with books
in Spanish, French and English, all
of which he reads although he does
not speak English. He published
a Spanish translation of French
army officers book, THE Education
of an Army in Democracy"
In his spacious home in Mexico
City's most fashionable section,
Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico's new
chief executive turns to history or
economics when he wants to relax
with a book.
In the midst of his public respon-
sibilities, Gen. Avila Camacho has
always found time for polo. He
plays a hard game. but his goal rat
ing is low. His other principal rec
reation is billiards.
He converseS fluently, but to the
point without waste of words. At
his first mass press interview, Is
foreign correspondents were unani-
nous in appreciation of the aptness
and frankness of his answers, which
nonetheless were shrewd in what
they left unsaid.
The generals wife is a distin-
guished beauty from Jalisco state
whom he married 20 years ago.
Their marriage has been childless,
but they recently adopted a young
boy.
When not in the city the family
lives on a small ranch outside the
capital, where Gen. Avila Camacho
| raises blooded horses. The general