Anastasio Bustamante Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera ( 27 July 1780 – 6 February 1853 ) was president of Mexico three times , from 1830 to 1832 , from 1837 to 1839 and from 1839 to 1841 . He was a Conservative . He first came to power by leading a coup against president Vicente Guerrero . Bustamante was deposed twice and exiled to Europe each time . Early life . Anastasio Bustamante ' s father , José María , worked hauling snow from the volcanoes of Colima to Guadalajara , but was able to provide his son with a good education . At 15 , the younger Bustamante entered the Seminary of Guadalajara . When he finished , he went to Mexico City to study medicine . He passed his medical examinations and then went to San Luis Potosí as director of San Juan de Dios Hospital . In 1808 , he entered the royal army as a cavalry officer under the command of Félix María Calleja . In 1810 , General Calleja mobilized the army to fight the rebels under Miguel Hidalgo , and Bustamante participated on the royalist side in all the actions of the Army of the Center . During the War of Independence he rose to the rank of colonel and never married . The First Empire . On 19 March 1821 , in support of Agustín de Iturbide ( a personal friend ) , Bustamante proclaimed the independence of Mexico from Spain at Pantoja , Guanajuato . A few days later he removed the remains of the 1811 insurgent leaders from the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato and had them buried in San Sebastián cemetery . Iturbide named him commander of the cavalry , second in command of the Army of the Center , and a member of the governing junta . The Regency named him field marshal and captain general of the Provincias Internas de Oriente y Occidente , effective 28 September 1821 . He fought and defeated a Spanish expeditionary force at Xichú . At the fall of the Empire in 1823 , he joined the ranks of the federalists , for which he was arrested and confined at Acapulco , but President Guadalupe Victoria again put him in command of the Provincias Internas . As president of the Republic . First term . In December 1828 , under the , Congress named him vice - president of the Republic under President Vicente Guerrero . He took possession of this office on 1 April 1829 , but soon was at odds with Guerrero . On 4 December 1829 , in accord with the , he rose against Guerrero , driving him from the capital . On 1 January 1830 he assumed the presidency on an interim basis . Congress declared Guerrero " incapable of governing . " In office , Bustamante removed employees not having the confidence of " public opinion . " He instituted a secret police force and took steps to suppress the press . He exiled some of his competitors and expelled U . S . Minister Joel Poinsett . He was involved in the kidnapping and execution of his predecessor , Guerrero . He supported industry and the clergy . These and other policies stimulated opposition , especially in the states of Jalisco , Zacatecas , and Texas . In 1832 a revolt broke out in Veracruz . The rebels asked Antonio López de Santa Anna to take command . When their immediate demands were met ( the resignation of some of Bustamante ' s ministers ) , they also demanded the president ' s ouster . They intended to replace him with Manuel Gómez Pedraza , whose 1828 election had been annulled . Bustamante turned over the presidency to Melchor Múzquiz on 14 August 1832 and left the capital to fight the rebels . He defeated them on 14 August at Gallinero , Dolores Hidalgo , Guanajuato , and then returned to fight Santa Anna , who was nearing Puebla . After two more battles , the three candidates , Bustamante , Santa Anna and Gómez Pedraza , signed the ( 21 – 23 December ) , by which Gómez Pedraza was to assume the presidency and hold new elections . Bustamante was to go into exile , which he did in 1833 . Second term . While in exile in France he inspected military and medical facilities . He returned to Mexico in December 1836 , called back by President José Justo Corro to fight in the War of Texas Independence . However , once he was back in the country , Congress declared him president ( 17 April 1837 ) . With the treasury exhausted and the army depleted by a series of revolts , Bustamante was limited in his military response to crises . France issued an ultimatum on 21 March 1838 , and on 16 April began blockading Mexico ' s Gulf ports . The French declared war on 27 November 1838 ( the Pastry War ) , bombarded San Juan de Ulúa , and occupied Veracruz ( 5 December ) . About the same time , Guatemalan general Miguel Gutiérrez invaded Chiapas . Bustamante temporarily left the presidency from 20 March to 18 July 1839 to campaign against rebel General José Urrea in Tamaulipas . Santa Anna and Nicolás Bravo served as president during this absence . Third term . He became president again on 9 July 1839 , serving until 22 September 1841 . During this term , the first Spanish diplomatic representative to Mexico , Ángel Calderón de la Barca y Belgrano , arrived . The boundary between Yucatán and Belize was established . Treaties were signed with Belgium and Bavaria , and relations with the United States were reestablished . On 15 July 1840 , General Urrea escaped from prison and led a force against Bustamante in the National Palace . Bustamante resisted , but on the 16th he was forced to flee , accompanied by 28 dragoons . During this siege artillery destroyed the southeast corner of the Palace . He did not relinquish the presidency , however . About this time a revolt broke out in Yucatán . In August 1841 , Santa Anna and Paredes , military commanders of Veracruz and Jalisco , launched a new rebellion against Bustamante . He turned the government over to Francisco Javier Echeverría on 2 September 1841 . Echeverría lasted only until 10 October , when Santa Anna returned to the presidency . Later career . Bustamante again went into exile in Europe , spending time in France and Italy . His aide - de - camp José María Calderón y Tapia , as well as his nephew Andrés Oseguera , accompanied Bustamante in Europe . He traveled widely and sought medical treatment , taking the waters at Contrexéville , France . He returned to Mexico in 1845 to offer his services in the crisis with the United States . In 1846 he was president of Congress . That year he was named general of an expedition to defend the Californias from the United States , but he was unable to reach California for lack of resources . In 1848 he suppressed rebellions in Guanajuato and Aguascalientes . He lived the latter part of his life in San Miguel de Allende , where he died in 1853 at the age of 72 . His heart was placed in the Mexico City Cathedral ' s chapel of San Felipe de Jesús alongside the ashes of Emperor Iturbide . References . Chapa