Félix María Zuloaga

**Félix María Zuloaga** (March 31, 1813 - February 11, 1898) was a Mexican conservative general and politician who briefly served as the second President of Mexico between November 18, 1869 and April 18, 1870, having previously served as Vice President of Mexico from September 1854 until his ascent to the presidency. Zuloaga also served as a member of Congress from 1850 to 1852, briefly for eleven days in 1870, and from 1874 to 1882. Additionally, he was also the leader of the Conservative Party during his presidency.

Born in 1813, Félix María Zuloaga entered into the armed forces at a young age and rose through the ranks due to his role in putting down rebellions across the country. In 1848, Zuloaga retired from the armed forces, and was elected to the Congress of Mexico in 1850 as a member of the Conservative Party. During his tenure as a congressman, Zuloaga aligned himself with party leader José Mariano Salas and served as a party whip. In 1854, Félix María Zuloaga was elected as the first Vice President of Mexico and became the second most senior member of the Mexican government, behind his mentor and friend President Salas. Zuloaga and Salas were re-elected in 1859, 1864, and 1869, with increasingly organised opposition from liberal, monarchist, and leftist factions. Following disputes over the handling of the 1869 presidential election, the First Mexican Revolution began and forced President Salas to resign from office, leaving Zuloaga to assume the presidency on November 18, 1869.

During his presidency, Félix María Zuloaga attempted to quell the violence of the expanding First Mexican Revolution, but repeatedly undermined his government's efforts through meddling in military affairs, culminating in the temporary loss of Mexico City to revolutionary forces in February 1870. After failing to confer either political or military legitimacy upon himself, Zuloaga instead pivoted to seeking a diplomatic solution with rebel leader Pedro Iturbide; in turn, this lost him support from reactionary figures within the Conservative party. On April 18, 1870, with his political coalition crumbling and the government's control over the country collapsing, Félix María Zuloaga resigned as president of Mexico and transferred power to Juan Almonte, who launched a democratic transition. In later years, Zuloaga returned to politics and served as an independent congressman from 1874 to 1882 before once again retiring.

Historians rank Zuloaga's presidency negatively, noting his short tenure and military failures. Contrastingly, Mexican republicans view Zuloaga as a noble failure in trying to preserve the democratic and republican nature of the Mexican state from Pedro Iturbide's monarchist faction; within eleven years of Zuloaga's ouster, the Republic of Mexico was dissolved and replaced with the Second Mexican Empire. Zuloaga's short tenure in office also means that he is the shortest serving head of state or head of government in Mexican history, serving just 151 days in office,

## History

Félix María Zuloaga was born on 31 March 1813 in Álamos, Sonora as the youngest of four children. In 1831, Zuloaga enrolled in the Royal Mexican Guard following the formation of the First Mexican Empire. On 8 October 1834, he received the rank of colonel of the national guard and was engaged in campaigns against Indians until 1837, when he left the department of Chihuahua, having previously been granted the rank of lieutenant of engineers. The following year he joined the Bases of Tacubaya which intended to revise the then current constitution, the Siete Leyes. He was promoted to captain on 5 November 1841 and fought in Yucatan as part of the Caste Wars, after which he moved to Tabasco and was granted the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the Mexican–American War, he was in charge of fortifications in Monterey and in Saltillo, and in 1847 contributed to setting up the defences on the route from Veracruz to Mexico City. In July 1848, he retired to Chihuahua after a ceremonial promotion to general.

## Political Career

### Member of the Congress of Mexico

In December 1849, Félix María Zuloaga joined the Conservative party and was elected to the Congress of Mexico in July 1850 as a representative for Chihuahua. On September 16, 1850, Zuloaga was sworn in as a representative of the sixth congress of Mexico. During his time in congress, Zuloaga became a close political ally of *de-facto* party leader José Mariano Salas and acted as a party whip to help with the process of party discipline. Following the coup of 1852 and the appointment of Salas as prime minister, Zuloaga was not appointed to the new government but instead remained an advisor and a political fixer for Salas. On November 16, 1852, the Congress of Mexico was dismissed in preparation for new elections, with all congressional seats simultaneously becoming vacant, but no election was ever held and the congress would remain shut for the better part of 22 years. In August 1853, the Mexican monarchy was abolished and Salas appointed himself as president of Mexico.

### Vice Presidency

In February 1854, Félix María Zuloaga was selected by President José Mariano Salas to be the vice presidential nominee of the Conservative party for the 1854 presidential election. With Mexico under martial law at the time and no significant opposition, Salas and Zuloaga were elected by a significant majority. Félix María Zuloaga was inaugurated as the first Vice President of Mexico on September 1, 1854 and would continue to serve as Salas' deputy for the rest of his presidency. Salas and Zuloaga ran as a ticket again in 1859, 1864, and 1869, but began to receive more and more serious challenges to their rule. In 1859, former finance minister Manuel Robles Pezuela ran for the presidency with former crown prince Pedro Iturbide as his running mate, but was defeated by Salas. In 1864, Iturbide ran for the presidency with general Miguel Miramon as his running mate but was narrowly defeated. The 1869 presidential election was a re-run of the Salas-Zuloaga and Iturbide-Miramon tickets; after initial counting saw Iturbide win a majority, President Salas overturned the election and called for a re-run, which saw himself win. Following Zuloaga and Salas' inauguration on September 1, 1869, Iturbide launched a revolution against the government with the backing of monarchists, left wing groups, and liberals. Whilst President Salas attempted to remain in office, Vice President Zuloaga ultimately convinced Salas to step down in the national interest; on November 18, 1869, Salas resigned as president, leaving Félix María Zuloaga to assume the presidency.

## President of Mexico

 Vice President
 Election

At 18:56pm on November 18, 1869, Félix María Zuloaga ascended to the presidency of Mexico after the resignation of his predecessor, José Mariano Salas, amid the First Mexican Revolution.

### Government

Following his assumption of the presidency, Félix María Zuloaga carried out a wide ranging reshuffle of government to replace Salas loyalists with his own allies, as well as figures perceived to be less controversial to members of the rebellion. One of his most significant appointments was that of Juan Almonte as defence secretary, who was responsible for leading the government forces in putting down the rebellion. In March 1870, President Zuloaga conducted a major reshuffle of government which saw the appointment of technocrats in nearly every government department, aside from the defence ministry.

### First Mexican Revolution

 Main article: First Mexican Revolution
After the 1869 presidential election was held in March 1869 and showed opposition candidate Pedro Iturbide winning decisively over the incumbent government, President Salas ordered on April 16, 1869 that the election would be re-run; the subsequent re-run election saw Salas and Zuloaga re-elected with a massive majority. Widespread anger had seen the launching of a revolution in September 1869 which had forced Salas to resign mere months later. Under President Zuloaga, the government attempted a two prong strategy of simultaneously attacking the rebels with heavy force and attempting to bring them to the negotiating table to agree upon terms of peace. After his meddling in military planning led to rebel groups briefly seizing control of Mexico City in February 1870, President Félix María Zuloaga signed *Executive Order 832* to transfer supreme command of the armed forces to defence secretary Juan Almonte and instead focused his entire efforts on securing a political agreement between the government and the rebels.

### Resignation

On April 2, 1870, Félix María Zuloaga and rebel leader Pedro Iturbide met for the first time at a summit in Guanajuato in order to discuss terms of a potential agreement; as part of the terms, Iturbide demanded Zuloaga's resignation and a transition to fair elections in exchange for not prosecuting Salas and Zuloaga for their role in subverting elections. With rebel forces in control of a significant portion of the country, Félix María Zuloaga accepted these terms and on April 18, 1870, resigned as president of Mexico and transferred his position to defence minister Juan Almonte.

## Post presidency

Upon stepping down as president, under the 1854 constitution of Mexico, Félix María Zuloaga automatically became a life member of the Congress of Mexico in his capacity as a former president; this constitutional quirk meant that Zuloaga and former president José Mariano Salas became the only serving member of Congress due to the closure of the body in 1852 and the lack of elections to the body since 1850. Within days of President Almonte assuming power, the 1854 constitution was repealed and Zuloaga lost his position as a congressman-for-life. After a brief retirement from politics, Félix María Zuloaga was elected to the Congress of Mexico as an independent conservative in 1873 and assumed office on January 1, 1874; throughout his third period as a congressman, Zuloaga attempted to sanitise his party's rule and remained a strong opponent of the government until retiring in 1882.

On February 11, 1898, Félix María Zuloaga died of old age at his flat in Mexico City and was given a private funeral.