List of leaders of Mexico

There have been 15 people to have been **leader of Mexico** across 17 separate periods in office since the creation of an independent Mexican state on September 28, 1821.

## Titles

During the existence of the independent Mexican state, the leader of Mexico has used several different titles. During the three Mexican empires, the head of state has been an emperor or a designated regent, whilst the head of government has been the president of the Council of Ministers. During the Republic of Mexico, the president of the Council of Ministers (styled as president of Mexico) was both head of state and head of government. The following is a list of the de facto titles of leaders of Mexico:

* Emperor of Mexico (1821 - 1853; 1881 - 1921; 1956 - present)
* President of the Council of Ministers (1853 - 1881; 1921 - 1956)
* Regent of Mexico (1921 - 1956)

## First Mexican Empire (1821 - 1853)

 Main article: First Mexican Empire
Mexico gained independence from the Kingdom of Spain in the summer of 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence. On September 28, 1821, revolutionary leader Agustín de Iturbide crowned himself as Emperor Agustín I of Mexico as the first leader of the new Mexican Empire. After Agustín's death in July 1843, the crown passed to his son Pedro I. Under Pedro I, the empire entered into political instability as different factions vied for control over government. In October 1852, the Conservative Party conducted a coup against the government and abolished the monarchy in August 1853, establishing the Republic of Mexico in its place.

## Republic of Mexico (1853 - 1881)

 Main article: Republic of Mexico
Following the Coup of 1852, general José Mariano Salas formally abolished the Mexican monarchy and proclaimed himself as president of Mexico in August 1853. Under Salas' Conservative Party government, the newly established Republic of Mexico became an authoritarian and autocratic regime characterised by crackdowns and repression against opposition. Following the fraudulent 1869 presidential election, the leader of the opposition and head of the deposed House of Iturbide, Pedro de Iturbide, led a revolution against the Salas regime which forced the resignations of Salas and later his successor Félix María Zuloaga. In 1872, Iturbide came to an agreement with the military president Juan Almonte which allowed for a transition to democracy. Iturbide's Restoration Party dominated the democratic era of the Mexican republic and in 1881, the party conducted a self coup which allowed Pedro de Iturbide to restore the Mexican monarchy and proclaim himself as Emperor Pedro II of Mexico.

## Second Mexican Empire (1881 - 1956)

### House of Iturbide (1881 - 1921)

 Main article: Second Mexican Empire
After Pedro de Iturbide conducted a self-coup in November 1881 to proclaim himself as Emperor Pedro II of Mexico, the Republic of Mexico ceased to exist and was replaced by the Second Mexican Empire. Under the new monarchy, the House of Iturbide was restored to the throne and exerted significant influence within the political system, despite being constitutionally bared from interfering in politics. Between 1881 - 1901 and 1910 - 1916, the Restoration Party governed the country as effectively the political branch of the royal family, with a succession of prime ministers implementing the emperor's will. After the death of the popular Pedro II in 1910, his successor Juan I struggled to effectively control the Restoration Party and instead resorted to a self-coup in 1916 by dismissing the government and appointing loyalists to lead the cabinet - however, this new regime provoked the neighbouring United States of America and was deposed in early 1919 after a military invasion. In 1921, an anarchist assassinated Emperor Juan I as part of a broader uprising against the government, which tipped the country into civil war and ended the reign of the House of Iturbide.