Francisco+Madero

Francisco Madero Image from [|here]

Francisco Madero was undoubtedly an agent of change in Mexican politics and a key figure in the initiation of the Mexican revolution; however, Madero cannot be classified as either a true revolutionary or a true reformer. Madero did not intend to dramatically overthrow a corrupt government and begin anew as a revolutionary would. He did not promote or create major social or political changes to truly reform Mexico. Rather Madero was a very moderate politician who unleashed the radical forces of revolution mistakenly as he tried to work within the status quo. Madero was an aristocrat from one of the richest families in Mexico. Madero returned to Mexico from Europe with new political views and became aware of the great poverty and suffering caused by Diaz’s failing government. He worked to make change starting first with his own hacienda, increasing wages, improving living conditions and building schools (Creed). He got involved with politics in 1904 first in his province of Coahuila. After Diaz mentioned true democracy in the Creelman interview, Madero wrote //Sucesion Presidencial// //de 1910// in which he attacked the dictatorship, though it did not condemn Diaz personally. Madero then ran for the presidency aided by the anti-reelectionist press, and intellectuals. However Madero had little chance of a fair election; during his run Madero and his supporters were arrested, violence broke out and the dictatorship elected itself. (Stoops) Madero was allowed to flee to Texas. There he wrote the [|Plan of San Luis Potosi] which declared the election void, Madero provisional president, and promised moderate political reforms. The Plan also hinted at land reforms and more radical change that Madero never planned to implement. This part of the plan did cuase Madero to gain the support of Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Pascual Orozco and other revolutionaries. He was then able to lead a successful revolution against Daiz (Keen 283). Once in office Madero showed little ambition for the change and reform that his revolutionary supporter hoped he would champion. Madero limited his own ability to make change when he placed Francisco de la Barra as provisional president (Creed). De la Barra created a conservative cabinet and effectively eliminated the momentum of Madero’s movement. This caused the revolutionaries to turn against Madero and many citizens to distrust the new government. Madero himself did little to mitigate this worry as he did not want radical reform and did not pursue moderate reform with the urgency the revolutionaries believed necessary. This factors combined to make the Madero presidency ineffective and unsatisfactory (Stoops). As the revolutionary groups moved to full rebellion Madero leaned more upon his Chief of the Armed Forces, Victoriano Huerta who would soon led a coup that ended in the murder of Madero. Madero’s presidency was doomed from the day he issued the Plan of San Luis Potosi. When he did this he made promises his own beliefs would not allow him to keep and gained the support of men who could not accept merely moderate change. Even if de la Barra had not paralyzed Madero’s reform, there would not have been a happy ending for the new president. Ultimately Madero rejected the revolution and was could not make claim to the title of reformer. Madero may have wanted change but he did not want true political or social reform. He wanted a higher standard of living and a better society and yet remained unwilling to make the radical change necessary for prosperity for all Mexicans.
 * [[image:Presidential%20Succession.jpg width="187" height="265" caption="Madero's book, click for source" link="http://www.nevadaobserver.com/Mexican%20Revolution%2001.htm"]] ||
 * Madero's book, click for source ||