Álvaro Obregón General Álvaro Obregón Salido ( ; February 19 , 1880 – July 17 , 1928 ) was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924 . He supported Sonora ' s decision to follow Venustiano Carranza as leader of a revolution against the Huerta regime , and Carranza appointed Obregón commander of the revolutionary forces in northwestern Mexico and in 1915 appointed him as his minister of war . In 1920 , Obregón launched a revolt against Carranza , in which Carranza was assassinated ; he won the subsequent election with overwhelming support . Obregón ' s presidency was the first stable presidency since the Revolution began in 1910 . He oversaw massive educational reform ( with Mexican muralism flourishing ) , moderate land reform , and labor laws sponsored by the increasingly powerful Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers . In 1923 – 24 , Obregón ' s finance minister , Adolfo de la Huerta , launched a rebellion ; Obregón returned to the battlefield to crush the rebellion . In 1924 , Obregón ' s hand - picked successor , Plutarco Elías Calles , was elected as president , and although Obregón ostensibly retired to Sonora , he remained influential under Calles . Obregón won the 1928 presidential election , but before he could begin his term , he was assassinated by a José de León Toral angered by the Calles government ' s treatment of Catholics . Early years , 1880 – 1911 . Obregón was born in Siquisiva , Sonora , Municipality of Navojoa , the son of Francisco Obregón and Cenobia Salido . Francisco Obregón had once owned a substantial estate , but his business partner supported Emperor Maximilian during the French intervention in Mexico ( 1861 – 1867 ) , and the family ' s estate was therefore confiscated by the Liberal government in 1867 . Francisco Obregón died in 1880 , the year of Álvaro Obregón ' s birth , leaving Álvaro to be raised in poverty by his mother and his older sisters Cenobia , María , and Rosa . During his childhood , he worked on the family farm and became acquainted with the Mayo people who also worked there . He attended a school run by his brother José in Huatabampo and thus received an elementary education . He spent his teenage years working a variety of jobs , before finding permanent employment in 1898 as a lathe operator at the sugar mill owned by his maternal uncles in Navolato , Sinaloa . In 1903 , he married Refugio Urrea and in 1904 , he left the sugar mill to sell shoes door - to - door , and then to become a tenant farmer . By 1906 , he was in a position to buy his own small farm , where he grew chickpeas . The next year was tragic for Obregón as his wife and two of his children died , leaving him a widower with two small children , who were henceforth raised by his three older sisters . In 1909 , Obregón invented a chickpea harvester and soon founded a company to manufacture these harvesters , complete with a modern assembly line . He successfully marketed these harvesters to chickpea farmers throughout the Mayo Valley . Military career , 1911 – 1915 . Early military career , 1911 – 1913 . Obregón entered politics in 1911 with his election as municipal president of the town of Huatabampo . Obregón expressed little sympathy for the Anti - reelectionist movement launched by Francisco I . Madero in 1908 – 1909 in opposition to President Porfirio Díaz . Thus , when Madero began the Mexican Revolution in November 1910 by issuing his Plan of San Luis Potosí , Obregón did not join the struggle against Porfirio Díaz . Madero succeeded in defeating Porfirio Díaz and thus became President of Mexico in November 1911 . Obregón became a supporter of Madero shortly after Madero became President of Mexico . In March 1912 , Pascual Orozco , a general who had fought with Madero during the Mexican Revolution , but had grown disaffected with Madero , launched a revolt against Madero ' s regime in Chihuahua with the financial backing of Luis Terrazas , a former Governor of Chihuahua and the largest landowner in Mexico . In April 1912 , Obregón volunteered to join the local Maderista forces , the Fourth Irregular Battalion of Sonora , organized under the command of General Sanginés to oppose Orozco ' s revolt . This Battalion supported federal troops under the command of Victoriano Huerta sent by Madero to crush Orozco ' s rebellion . Within weeks of joining the Battalion , Obregón displayed signs of military genius . Obregón disobeyed his superior ' s orders but won several battles by luring his enemy into traps , surprise assaults , and encircling maneuvers . Obregón was quickly promoted through the ranks and attained the rank of Colonel before resigning in December 1912 , following victory over Orozco ( with Orozco fleeing to the United States ) . Obregón had intended to return to civilian life in December 1912 , but then in February 1913 , the Madero regime was overthrown in a " coup d ' état " ( known to Mexican history as " La decena trágica " ) orchestrated by Victoriano Huerta , Félix Díaz , Bernardo Reyes , and Henry Lane Wilson , the United States Ambassador to Mexico . Huerta assumed the presidency . Obregón immediately traveled to Hermosillo to offer his services to the government of Sonora in opposition to the Huerta regime . The Sonoran government refused to recognize the Huerta regime , and in early March 1913 , Obregón was appointed chief of Sonora ' s War Department . In this capacity , he set out on campaign , and in a matter of days had managed to drive federal troops out of Nogales , Cananea , and Naco . He soon followed up by capturing the port city of Guaymas . He squared off against federal troops in May 1913 at the battle of Santa Rosa through an encirclement of enemy forces . As commander of Sonora ' s forces , Obregón won the respect of many revolutionaries who had fought under Madero in 1910 – 11 , most notably Benjamín G . Hill . Struggle against the Huerta Regime , 1913 – 1914 . The Sonoran government was in contact with the government of Coahuila , which had also refused to recognize the Huerta regime and entered a state of rebellion . A Sonoran delegation headed by Adolfo de la Huerta traveled to Monclova to meet with the Governor of Coahuila , Venustiano Carranza . The Sonoran government signed on to Carranza ' s Plan of Guadalupe , by which Carranza became " " primer jefe " " of the newly - proclaimed Constitutional Army . On 30 September 1913 , Carranza appointed Obregón commander - in - chief of the Constitutional Army in the Northwest , with jurisdiction over Sonora , Sinaloa , Durango , Chihuahua , and Baja California . In November 1913 , Obregón ' s forces captured Culiacán , thus securing the supremacy of the Constitutional Army in the entire area of Northwestern Mexico under Obregón ' s command . Obregón and other Sonorans were deeply suspicious of Carranza ' s Secretary of War , Felipe Ángeles , because they considered Ángeles to be a holdover of the old Díaz regime . At the urging of the Sonorans ( the most powerful group in Carranza ' s coalition following Obregón ' s victories in the Northwest ) , Carranza downgraded Ángeles to the position of Sub - Secretary of War . In spite of his demotion , Ángeles formulated the rebel grand strategy of a three - prong attack south to Mexico City : ( 1 ) Obregón would advance south along the western railroad , ( 2 ) Pancho Villa would advance south along the central railroad , and ( 3 ) Pablo González Garza would advance south along the eastern railroad . Obregón began his march south in April 1914 . Whereas Pancho Villa preferred wild cavalry charges , Obregón was again more cautious . Villa was soon at odds with Carranza , and in May 1914 , Carranza instructed Obregón to increase the pace of his southern campaign to ensure that he beat Villa ' s troops to Mexico City . Obregón moved his troops from Topolobampo , Sinaloa , to blockade Mazatlán , and then to Tepic , where Obregón cut off the railroad from Guadalajara , Jalisco , to Colima , thus leaving both of these ports isolated . In early July , Obregón moved south to Orendaín , Jalisco , where his troops defeated federal troops , leaving 8000 dead , and making it clear that the Huerta regime was defeated . Obregón was promoted to major general . He continued his march south . Upon Obregón ' s arrival in Teoloyucan , Mexico State , it was clear that Huerta was defeated , and , on 11 August , on the mudguard of a car , Obregón signed the treaties that ended the Huerta regime . On 16 August 1914 , Obregón and 18 , 000 of his troops marched triumphantly into Mexico City . He was joined shortly by Carranza , who marched triumphantly into Mexico City on 20 August . In Mexico City , Obregón moved to extract revenge on his perceived enemies . He believed that the Mexican Catholic Church had supported the Huerta regime , and he therefore imposed a fine of 500 , 000 pesos on the church , to be paid to the Revolutionary Council for Aid to the People . He also believed that the rich had been pro - Huerta , and he therefore imposed special taxes on capital , real estate , mortgages , water , pavement , sewers , carriages , automobiles , bicycles , etc . Special measure were also taken against foreigners . Some of these were deliberately humiliating : for example , he forced foreign businessmen to sweep the streets of Mexico City . Break with Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata , 1914 . Tensions between Carranza and Pancho Villa grew throughout 1914 , as Villa created a number of diplomatic incidents that Carranza was worried would invite outside intervention in the Mexican Revolution . On 8 July 1914 , Villistas and Carrancistas had signed the Treaty of Torreón , in which they agreed that after Huerta ' s forces were defeated , 150 generals of the Revolution would meet to determine the future shape of the country . However , Carranza disliked Villa ' s insubordination so much that he refused to let Villa march into Mexico City in August . In September , Villa and Carranza formally split , and during this time Obregón paid a visit to Villa that nearly resulted in Villa ' s having Obregón shot . The Convention that the Carrancistas and Villistas had agreed to in the Treaty of Torreón went ahead at Aguascalientes on 5 October 1914 . Carranza did not participate in the Convention of Aguascalientes because he was not a general , but , as a general , Obregón participated . The Convention soon split into two major factions : ( 1 ) the Carrancistas , who insisted that the Convention should follow the promise of the Plan of Guadalupe and restore the 1857 Constitution of Mexico ; and ( 2 ) the Villistas , who sought more wide - ranging social reforms than set out in the Plan of Guadalupe . The Villistas were supported by Emiliano Zapata , leader of the Liberation Army of the South , who had issued his own Plan of Ayala , which called for wide - ranging social reforms . For a month and a half , Obregón maintained neutrality between the two sides , and tried to reach a middle ground that would avoid a civil war . Eventually , it became clear that the Villistas / Zapatistas had prevailed at the Convention ; Carranza , however , refused to accept the Convention ' s preparations for a " preconstitutional " regime , which Carranza believed was totally inadequate , and in late November , Carranza rejected the authority of the regime imposed by the Convention . Forced to choose sides , Obregón naturally sided with Carranza and left the Convention to fight for the " Primer Jefe " . He had made many friends amongst the Villistas and Zapatistas at the Convention , and was able to convince some of them to depart with him . On December 12 , 1914 , Carranza issued his Additions to the Plan of Guadalupe , which laid out an ambitious reform program , including Laws of Reform , in conscious imitation of Benito Juárez ' s Laws of Reform . Battle with the Conventionists , 1915 . Once again , Obregón was able to recruit loyal troops by promising them land in return for military service . In this case , in February 1915 , the Constitutionalist Army signed an agreement with the " " ( " House of the World Worker " ) , the labor union with anarcho - syndicalist connections which had been established during Francisco I . Madero ' s presidency . As a result of this agreement , six " Red Battalions " of workers were formed to fight alongside the Constitutionalists against the Conventionists Villa and Zapata . This agreement had the side effect of lending the Carrancistas legitimacy with the urban proletariat . Obregón ' s forces easily defeated Zapatista forces at Puebla in early 1915 . However , the Villistas remained in control of large portions of the country . Forces under Pancho Villa were moving towards the Bajío ; Felipe Ángeles ' forces occupied Saltillo and thus dominated the northeast ; the forces of Calixto Contreras and Rodolfo Fierro controlled western Mexico ; and forces under Tomás Urbina were active in Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí . The armies of Obregón and Villa clashed in four battles , collectively known as the Battle of Celaya , the largest military confrontation in Latin American history before the Falklands War of 1982 . The first battle took place on 6 April and 7 April 1915 and ended with the withdrawal of the Villistas . The second , in Celaya , Guanajuato , took place between 13 April and 15 April , when Villa attacked the city of Celaya , but was repulsed . The third was the prolonged position battle of Trinidad and Santa Ana del Conde between 29 April and 5 June , which was the definitive battle . Villa was again defeated by Obregón , who lost his right arm in the fight . Villa made a last attempt to stop Obregón ' s army in Aguascalientes on 10 July , but without success . Obregón distinguished himself during the Battle of Celaya by being one of the first Mexicans to comprehend that the introduction of modern field artillery , and especially machine guns , had shifted the battlefield in favor of a defending force . In fact , while Obregón studied this shift and used it in his defense of Celaya , generals in the World War I trenches of Europe were still advocating bloody and mostly failing mass charges . Early political career , 1915 – 1920 . Minister of War in Carranza ' s Preconstitutional Regime , 1915 – 1916 . In May 1915 , Carranza had proclaimed himself the head of what he termed a " Preconstitutional Regime " that would govern Mexico until a could be held . Carranza appointed Obregón as Minister of War in his new cabinet . As Minister of War , Obregón determined to modernize and professionalize the Mexican military thoroughly . In the process , he founded a staff college and a school of military medicine . He also founded the Department of Aviation and a school to train pilots . Munitions factories were placed under the direct control of the military . Break with Carranza , 1917 – 1920 . In September 1916 , Carranza convoked a Constitutional Convention , to be held in Querétaro , Querétaro . He declared that the liberal 1857 Constitution of Mexico would be respected , though purged of some of its shortcomings . However , when the Constitutional Convention met in December 1916 , it contained only 85 conservatives and centrists close to Carranza ' s brand of liberalism , a group known as the " bloque renovador " ( " renewal faction " ) . Against them were 132 more radical delegates who insisted that land reform be embodied in the new constitution . Obregón now broke with Carranza and threw his considerable weight behind the radicals . He met with radical legislators , as well as the intellectual leader of the radicals , Andrés Molina Enríquez , and came out in favor of all their key issues . In particular , unlike Carranza , Obregón supported the land reform mandated by Article 27 of the constitution . He also supported the heavily anticlerical Articles 3 and 130 that Carranza opposed . Shortly after swearing his allegiance to the new Constitution , Obregón resigned as Minister of War and retired to Huatabampo to resume his life as a chickpea farmer . He organized the region ' s chickpea farmers in a producer ' s league and briefly entertained the idea of going to France to fight on the side of the Allies in World War One . He made a considerable amount of money in these years , and also entertained many visitors . As the victorious general of the Mexican Revolution , Obregón remained enormously popular throughout the country . By early 1919 , Obregón had determined to use his immense popularity to run in the presidential election that would be held in 1920 . Carranza announced that he would not run for president in 1920 , but refused to endorse Obregón , instead endorsing an obscure diplomat , Ignacio Bonillas . Obregón announced his candidacy in June 1919 . In August , he concluded an agreement with Luis Napoleón Morones and the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers , promising that if elected , he would create a Department of Labor , install a labor - friendly Minister of Industry and Commerce , and issue a new labor law . Obregón began to campaign in earnest in November 1919 . In the meantime , Carranza seemed determined to stop Obregón . At Carranza ' s behest , the Senate stripped Obregón of his military rank , a move which only increased Obregón ' s popularity . Then , Carranza ochestrated a plot in which a minor officer claimed that Obregón was planning an armed uprising against the Carranza regime . Obregón was forced to disguise himself as a railwayman and flee to Guerrero , where one of his former subordinates , , was governor . When the election was held , Bonillas defeated Obregón . On 20 April 1920 Obregón issued a declaration in the town of Chilpancingo accusing Carranza of having used public money in support of Bonillas ' s presidential candidacy . He declared his allegiance to the Governor of Sonora , Adolfo de la Huerta , in revolution against the Carranza regime . On 23 April , the Sonorans issued the Plan of Agua Prieta , which triggered a military revolt against the president . Obregón ' s Sonoran forces were augmented by troops under General Benjamín G . Hill and the Zapatistas led by Gildardo Magaña and Genovevo de la O . The revolt was successful and Carranza was deposed . On 20 May 1920 , Carranza was killed in the state of Puebla in an ambush led by General Rodolfo Herrero as he fled from Mexico City to Veracruz on horseback . For six months , from 1 June 1920 to 1 December 1920 , Adolfo de la Huerta served as provisional president of Mexico until elections could be held . When Obregón was declared the victor , de la Huerta stepped down and assumed the position of Secretary of the Treasury in the new government . President of Mexico , 1920 – 1924 . Obregón ' s election as president essentially signaled the end of the violence of the Mexican Revolution . The death of Lucio Blanco in 1922 and the assassination of Pancho Villa in 1923 would eliminate the last remaining obvious challenges to Obregón ' s regime . Educational reforms and cultural developments . Obregón appointed José Vasconcelos ( Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico who had been in exile 1915 – 1920 because of his opposition to Carranza ) as his Secretary of Public Education . Vasconcelos undertook a major effort to construct new schools across the country . Over 1 , 000 rural schools were constructed , together with almost 2 , 000 public libraries . Vasconcelos was also interested in promoting artistic developments . As such , Obregón ' s time as president saw the beginning of the art movement of Mexican muralism , with artists such as Diego Rivera , David Alfaro Siqueiros , José Clemente Orozco , and Roberto Montenegro invited to create murals expressive of the spirit of the Mexican Revolution on the walls of public buildings throughout Mexico . Labor relations . Obregón kept his August 1919 agreement with Luis Napoleón Morones and the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers ( CROM ) and created a Department of Labor , installed a labor - friendly Minister of Industry and Commerce , and issued a new labor law . Morones and CROM became increasingly powerful in the early 1920s and it would have been very difficult for Obregón to oppose their increased power . Morones was not afraid to use violence against his competitors , nearly eliminating the General Confederation of Workers in 1923 . CROM ' s success did not necessarily translate to success for all of Mexico ' s workers , and Article 123 of the Constitution of Mexico was enforced only sporadically . Thus , while CROM ' s right to strike was recognized , non - CROM strikes were broken up by the police or the army . And few Mexican workers got Sundays off with pay , or were able to limit their workday to eight hours . Land reform . Land reform was far more extensive under Obregón than it had been under Carranza . Obregón enforced the constitutional land redistribution provisions , and in total , 921 , 627 hectares of land were distributed during his presidency . The Mexican Catholic Church during Obregón ' s presidency . Many leaders and members of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico were highly critical of the 1917 constitution . They especially criticized Article 3 , which forbade religious instruction in schools , and Article 130 , which adopted an extreme form of separation of church and state , including a series of restrictions on priests and ministers of all religions to hold public office , canvass on behalf of political parties or candidates , or to inherit from persons other than close blood relatives , etc . ) . Although Obregón was suspicious of the Catholic Church , he was less anticlerical than his successor , Plutarco Elías Calles , whose policies would lead to the Cristero War ( 1926 – 29 ) . For example , he sent Pope Pius XI congratulations upon his election in 1922 and , in a private message to the pope , emphasized the " complementarity " of the aims of the Catholic Church and the Mexican Revolution . In spite of Obregón ' s moderate approach , his presidency saw the beginnings of clashes between Catholics and supporters of the Mexican Revolution . Some bishops campaigned actively against land distribution and against the organization of workers into secular unions . Catholic Action movements were founded in Mexico in the wake of Pius XI ' s 1922 encyclical " Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio " , and supporters of the Young Mexican Catholic Action soon found themselves in violent conflict with CROM members . The most serious diplomatic incident occurred in 1923 , when Ernesto Filippi , the Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico , conducted an open air religious service in spite of the fact that it was illegal to hold a religious service outside of a church . The government invoked Article 33 of the constitution and expelled Filippi from Mexico . Mexico - U . S . relations . As president , one of Obregón ' s top priorities was securing US diplomatic recognition of his regime . Although he rejected the American demand that Mexico rescind Article 27 of the constitution , Obregón made some concessions to the US in order to gain recognition . It was particularly helpful when the Mexican Supreme Court , in a case brought by Texas Oil , declared that Article 27 did not apply retroactively . Furthermore , Finance Minister Adolfo de la Huerta signed a deal in which Mexico recognized a debt of $ 1 . 451 million to international bankers . Finally , at the Bucareli Conference , Obregón agreed to an American demand that Mexico would not expropriate any foreign oil companies , and in exchange , the U . S . recognized his government . Many Mexicans criticized Obregón as a sellout ( " entreguista " ) for his actions at the Bucareli Conference . The de la Huerta rebellion , 1923 – 24 . In 1923 , Obregón endorsed Plutarco Elías Calles for president in the 1924 election ( in which Obregón was not eligible to run ) . Finance Minister Adolfo de la Huerta ( who had served as interim president in 1920 , before stepping aside in favor of Obregón ) believed that he deserved to be the next president and that Obregón was repeating Carranza ' s mistake of imposing his own candidate on the country . De la Huerta therefore accepted the nomination of the Cooperativist Party to be its candidate in the presidential elections . De la Huerta then organized an uprising against Obregón . Over half of the army joined de la Huerta ' s rebellion , with many of Obregón ' s former comrades in arms now turning on him . Rebel forces massed in Veracruz and Jalisco . In a decisive battle at Ocotlán , Jalisco , Obregón ' s forces crushed the rebel forces . Obregón hunted down many of his former friends and had them executed . Following the crushing of the rebellion , Calles was elected president of Mexico and Obregón stepped down from office . Later years , 1924 – 1928 . Following the election of Calles as president , Obregón returned to Sonora to farm . He led an " agricultural revolution " in the Yaqui Valley , where he introduced modern irrigation . Obregón expanded his business interests to include a rice mill in Cajeme , a seafood packing plant , a soap factory , tomato fields , a car rental business , and a jute bag factory . Obregón remained in close contact with President Calles , whom he had installed as his successor , and was a frequent guest of Calles at Chapultepec Castle . This prompted fears that Obregón was intending to follow in the footsteps of Porfirio Díaz and that Calles was merely a puppet figure , the equivalent of Manuel González . These fears became acute in October 1926 , when the Mexican Congress repealed term limit s , thus clearing the way for Obregón to run for president in 1928 . Obregón returned to the battlefield for the period October 1926 to April 1927 to put down a rebellion led by the Yaqui people . This was somewhat ironic because Obregón had first risen to military prominence commanding Yaqui troops , to whom he promised land , and the 1926 – 27 Yaqui rebellion was a demand for land reform . In all likelihood , Obregón participated in this campaign in order to prove his loyalty to the Calles government , to show his continued influence over the military , and also to protect his commercial interests in the Yaqui Valley , which had begun to suffer as a result of the increasing violence in the region . Obregón formally began his presidential campaign in May 1927 . CROM and a large part of public opinion were against his re - election , but he still counted on the support of most of the army and of the National Agrarian Party . Two of Obregón ' s oldest allies , General Arnulfo R . Gómez and General Francisco " Pancho " Serrano , opposed his re - election . Serrano launched an anti - Obregón rebellion and was ultimately assassinated . Gómez later called for an insurrection against Obregón but was soon killed as well . Obregón won the 1928 Mexican presidential election , but months before assuming the presidency he was assassinated . Calles ' s harsh treatment of Roman Catholics had led to a rebellion known as the Cristero War , which broke out in 1926 . As an ally of Calles , Obregón was hated by Catholics and was assassinated in La Bombilla Cafe on July 17 , 1928 , shortly after his return to Mexico City , by José de León Toral , a Roman Catholic opposed to the government ' s policies on religious matters . Honors . Álvaro Obregón was awarded Japan ' s Order of the Chrysanthemum at a special ceremony in Mexico City . On November 26 , 1924 , Baron Shigetsuma Furuya , Special Ambassador from Japan to Mexico , conferred the honor on the President . Legacy . Obregón is honored in the name of a genus of small cactus indigenous to Mexico – " Obregonia denegrii " . An imposing monument to Álvaro Obregón is located in the Parque de la Bombilla , Avenida Miguel Ángel de Quevedo at Insurgentes , San Ángel , Mexico City . It is the largest monument to a Revolutionary figure and stands in the place where Obregón was assassinated .