page_title: João Goulart
section_title: The Goulart administration
hierarchical_section_title: João Goulart / The Goulart administration
caption_attribution_description: English: United States Army officer Charles Murray walks in between President John F. Kennedy, left, and Brazilian President João Goulart during a review of troops on April 3, 1962. Murray was the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment.
context_page_description: João Belchior Marques Goulart was a Brazilian politician who served as the 24th president of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on 1 April 1964. He was considered the last left-wing president of Brazil until Lula da Silva took office in 2003.
context_section_description: Goulart was out of the country on a state visit to China when Quadros resigned. Several political and military elements thought Goulart was too radical for the presidency. They objected to his left-wing tendencies, his nationalist policies, and his willingness to seek closer relations with Communist countries. These elements called for the vice presidency to be declared vacant so new elections could be held.
  Congress was initially reluctant to recognize Goulart as president. He returned to Brazil a few days after Quadros' resignation, insisting he was already president. A compromise was agreed upon, thanks to Leonel Brizola and the "cadeia de legalidade" (chain of legality), and Goulart was able to take the presidency, but with his powers constrained by a parliamentary system of government.
  A constitutional amendment was accordingly passed which transferred most of the president's powers to the newly created post of prime minister. Only after this amendment was Goulart allowed to take the oath of office as president, to serve as head of state only. Goulart nominated Tancredo Neves as prime minister.
  During this period, Goulart and his prime minister chose the three-year plan as the economic plan of his government under the advisement of Celso Furtado, his minister of planning. In order to strengthen the energy sector and to foster Brazilian development, Eletrobrás, Latin America's largest power utility company, was created in 1962.
  As part of the compromise that installed a parliamentary system of government in 1961, a plebiscite was set for 1963 to confirm or reverse the changes made to the constitution. The parliamentary system of government was overwhelmingly rejected in the referendum, and Goulart assumed full presidential powers.
  The presidential government of Goulart initiated in 1963 was marked politically by the administration's closer ties to center-left political groups, and conflict with more conservative sectors of the society, specifically the National Democratic Union.
  Goulart also led Brazil in the drive for a nuclear-free Latin America, providing the impetus for the Five Presidents' Declaration and the Treaty of Tlatelolco. Brazil's leadership on nuclear disarmament was a casualty of the military coup, and Mexico eventually stepped in to continue to drive for a nuclear-free region.
caption: Goulart with U.S. President John F. Kennedy during a visit to the United States in April 1962.
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