Vicente Fox

Vicente Fox Quesada (born July 2, 1942) is the current president of Mexico. He was elected in the 2000 presidential election, a historically significant election that made him the first president elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1910. His current term runs through 2006, after which he has said he will retire from political life – re-election is not possible under the Constitution of Mexico.

Early political career

Fox joined the National Action Party (PAN) in the 1980s by invitation of Manuel J. Clouthier, a distinguished member of that party, also an entepreneur and presidential candidate in 1988. That year, Fox was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of Congress) representing León, Guanajuato. He ran for governor of Guanajuato in 1991, in a disputed election where the candidate of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate was declared the winner; however, the political climate forced behind-the-scenes negotiations with President Carlos Salinas, so the governorship was given to Carlos Medina Plascencia of the PAN on an interim basis. Claiming the governorship should have been given to him, since he was the candidate, Fox retired from political activity for the rest of Salinas's term.

Related Topics:
National Action Party - 1980s - Manuel J. Clouthier - 1988 - Chamber of Deputies - León, Guanajuato - 1991 - Institutional Revolutionary Party - Carlos Salinas - Carlos Medina Plascencia

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At the end of Salinas' term the 82nd article of the Mexican constitution was modified to allow Mexicans born to a non-Mexican parent (his mother is Spanish) to run for the presidency. While this change was interpreted to favor some of the PRI's politicians, in the end it enabled Fox to become president.

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In 1995 Fox again ran for the governorship of his state. This time he won by an indisputably wide margin and took office. His term as governor in Guanajuato was uneventful; his policy was to promote private investments and government efficiency and transparency.

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The presidential candidacy

In 1997, three years before the election, Fox declared that he would be the presidential candidate for his party. He was met with skepticism, because he was mostly an unknown in the national political scene, and even his party colleagues thought he was too inexperienced to even compete for the candidacy. Using his governorship as a way to promote his image, he quickly rose to the national scene, claiming he was an honest, experienced entrepreneur, a citizen more than a politician (the general opinion of politicians in Mexico is very poor).

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Although he made several mistakes along the way, like directly confronting prominent figures from his own party like Diego Fernández de Cevallos, his playing against the rules paid off. When 1999 came he was too popular for his party (PAN) to consider a different candidate, even when it was thought Fox was more foxista than panista. Fox was nominated and chosen mostly unopposed as the PAN party's presidential candidate for 2000.

Related Topics:
Diego Fernández de Cevallos - 1999 - 2000

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