Miguel Alemán Valdés (; 29 September 1900 – 14 May 1983) was a Mexican politician who served a full term as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952. He was the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals.
His administration was characterized by the country's rapid industrialization, often called the Mexican Miracle, but also for a high level of personal enrichment for himself and his associates.Cline, Howard F. Mexico: Revolution to Evolution 1940-1960. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 157-58. His presidency was the first of a new generation of leaders who had not directly participated in the Mexican Revolution, and many in his cabinet were also young, university-educated civilians, close friends from his days at university.
Early life and career
Alemán was born in Sayula in the state of Veracruz,Current Biography 1946 Yearbook, p. 9. the son of revolutionary Gen. Miguel Alemán González and Tomasa Valdés Ledezma. Both had been married before, with Alemán González having a son by his first wife. They had two sons together, Carlos and Miguel. The family lived in straitened circumstances, with Miguel remembering when he was young that when his huaraches hurt his feet, he would urinate on them to soften the leather.Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power, p. 531 His father, Miguel Alemán González, began fighting before the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, a so-called "precursor" in a region of Veracruz. He avidly read the tracts of Ricardo Flores Magón, of the Mexican Liberal Party and opposed the repressive regime of Porfirio Díaz. Alemán González left his family with his parents to fight with , the son-in-law of Venustiano Carranza, against the Díaz regime. In 1920 the family moved to Mexico City, but with the accession to power of the Sonoran generals Adolfo de la Huerta, Álvaro Obregón, and Plutarco Elías Calles, Alemán González continued in opposition to the government. He was implicated in the murder of one of Obregón's commanders, , and was on the run. The general met his end in March 1929 in a hail of bullets, probably committing suicide.Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power, pp. 530-33
Young Miguel had experienced first-hand the disruption of the impacts of the continuing violence in Mexico. Alemán's schooling was sporadic in his early years, because of needing to move frequently; he attended schools in Acayucan, Coatzacoalcos, and Orizaba.Camp, Roderic Ai. Mexican Political Biographies, 1935-1981. Second edition. Tucson: University of Tucson Press 1982, p. 10. For a time, he worked at the British-owned Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company, where he first learned English and became fluent in it.
He recalled his father advised him of "the usefulness of returning to my studies and choosing an occupation more stable than the military."quoted in Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power, p. 532. Alemán did that, attending the National Preparatory School in Mexico City from 1920 to 1925, founding the newspaper Eureka.Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, p. 10. He then went to the School of Law at the National University (UNAM) until 1928, completing his law degree with his thesis on occupational diseases and accidents among workers. At UNAM, he was the leader of a group of classmates, all of whom went on the prominence in Mexican life. They included Ángel Carvajal Bernal; Manuel Sánchez Cuen, who served as subdirector of PEMEX in the Alemán administration;Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, pp. 10, 276 ; ; Manuel Ramírez Vázquez; , who became rector of UNAM during Alemán's presidency; Antonio Carrillo Flores, who was director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica; and , head of the Confederación de Cámaras Industriales.Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, pp. 10-11
As a successful attorney, his first practice was in representing miners suffering from silicosis. He won two notable legal victories in representing workers against corporations—the first was in securing compensation for dependents of railroad workers who were killed in revolutionary battles, the second was to gain indemnities for miners injured at work. These victories gained him considerable favor with Mexico's labor unions.
Political career First positions
Alemán started public service with a relatively minor appointment as legal adviser to the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock (1928–30). Other positions followed, including the Federal Board of Conciliation and Arbitration in 1930. In 1933, he served as the President of the Unifying Committee for Plutarco Elías Calles, which brought him into prominence. He then served as a senator from his home state of Veracruz 1934–36, representing the Party of the Mexican Revolution (an earlier name of the party later known as the PRI). When governor-elect Manlio Favio Altamirano was assassinated, Alemán accepted appointment as governor from 1936 to 1939.Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, p. 10 The appointment can be seen as a political reward from the Cárdenas administration for helping oust Plutarco Elías Calles during the intra-party struggle.Cline, Howard F. Mexico: Revolution to Evolution, 1940-1960. New York: Oxford University Press 1963, p. 158. From 1940 to 1945, he served as Secretary of the Interior (Gobernación) under Manuel Ávila Camacho after directing Ávila's national presidential campaign. As Secretary of the Interior during World War II, he dealt with Axis espionage and the clerical fascist Sinarquistas.Cline, Mexico 1940-60, p. 158.
1946 general election campaign
President Ávila Camacho chose Alemán as the official candidate of the party in 1945, running for president in 1946. There were many possibilities for the president to choose among, both civilian and military, including Ávila Camacho's older brother, Maximino Ávila Camacho. The Ávila Camacho brothers shared ill health, and Maximino died in February 1945, following a banquet. His death averted a possible political crisis of succession. "There were some who wondered whether something more than seasoning had been added to Maximino's food" the day he died.Krauze, Enrique. Mexico: Biography of Power, New York: Harper Collins 1997, p. 500. Among the civilians were Javier Rojo Gómez, the head of government of the Federal District; Marte R. Gómez, Secretary of Agriculture; Dr. Gustavo Baz, secretary of Health; and Ezequiel Padilla, Secretary of Foreign Relations, and Alemán, who headed the most powerful ministry. Military men were also strong contenders, and all previous post-revolutionary presidents had participated in the Mexican Revolution. , Enrique Calderón, , and Francisco Castillo Nájera were in consideration. Alemán received the backing of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). Ávila Camacho paved the way with the military for Mexico's first civilian president in the modern era. Prior to the summer election, the Partido de la Revolución Mexicana became the Institutional Revolutionary Party.Smith, Peter H. "Mexico Since 1946", pp. 338-39
Presidency (1946–1952)
Alemán was inaugurated as President of the Republic on 1 December 1946"Aleman Takes Oath Today, First Civilian Executive", San Antonio Express, Dec. 1, 1946, p. 12. and served until 1952, when barred from running from re-election, he returned to civilian life. He was enormously popular prior to his presidency and in his early years as president, but lost support in the waning days of his term.
As president he pushed the program of state-supported industrialization and was very friendly toward business. This stance on economic development was a key reason he was tapped to be the party's candidate rather than possible candidates with ideas similar to those of Cárdenas.
Cabinet
members were similar in profile to the president himself, relatively young and without military experience, and highly educated, with personal ties to him.Smith, "Mexico Since 1946", p. 343 His Secretary of the Interior, ; Secretary of Public works, Ángel Carvajal; and Secretary of Labor, both Manuel Ramirez Vázquez and Andrés Serra Rojas had all been part of his close-knit group from the Faculty of Law at UNAM.Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, pp. 10-11, 246
Domestic policy Economic policy The Alemán administration reconciled the interests of businessmen and workers, with the purpose of making them forget class struggle and encouraging the development of capitalism, with the promise that both sectors would benefit economically.
Educational and cultural policy The first facilities of Ciudad Universitaria, the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, were also inaugurated. Miguel Alemán met in Chihuahua, at the Government Palace, with the first leader of Section 42 of the SNTE (National Union of Education Workers), Arnulfo Acosta Ochoa, and requested salary equalization with federal teachers.El Heraldo de Chihuahua
Labor and peasant policy During his presidency, Miguel Alemán joined the anti-communist policy of the United States. A committee of anti-communist activities was created whose main objective was to harass intellectuals and politicians because of their Marxist affiliation, while the establishment of several political associations with this tendency proliferated, outlawing the Workers' Political Party and the Popular Party, both of leftist ideas.El México que nos duele: crónica de un país sin rumbo – Alejandro Rosas and Ricardo Cayuela Gally, Mexico City, Editorial Claridad ISBN 978-607-07-0642-4, p. 124.
Several demonstrations emerged because of the great discontent that existed in the peasant sector. During the presidency of Manuel Ávila Camacho, a trend had begun of reducing the distribution of land to peasants and encouraging the concentration of land in large estates, leading to strikes and demonstrations.El México que nos duele: crónica de un país sin rumbo – Alejandro Rosas and Ricardo Cayuela Gally, Mexico City, Editorial Claridad ISBN 978-607-07-0642-4, p. 127.
Creation of the Federal Security Directorate In 1947, by decree, he ordered the creation of the Federal Security Directorate (DFS), attached to the Secretariat of the Interior, whose main task was to keep the president informed about the political and social situation of the country. It was originally composed of graduates of the Military College and later formed by personnel from various agencies. Its first director was Colonel Marcelino Iñurreta de la Fuente, who decided to train the institution's first members with special FBI courses in Washington and at other police schools in the United States.
Infrastructure
Alemán directed government spending to state-sponsored industrial development and reduced military spending as had his predecessors.Gentleman, Judith ""Mexico Since 1910" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 4, p. 20. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996. That development included investments in infrastructure, especially public works. Dam-building helped control flooding, expand irrigation, which allowed for the expansion of large-scale agriculture, and provided hydroelectric power. In 1947 he initiated a huge project in the state of Oaxaca, culminating with the opening of the Miguel Alemán Dam in 1955. In 1951 he oversaw completion of the diversion of the Lerma River, bringing Mexico City's water supply problems to an end."Water, Water Everywhere", TIME Magazine, September 17, 1951
Extending the nation's rail network, building and improving highways brought remote regions into the national economy. In Mexico City an existing airfield was enlarged and became the Mexico City International Airport.Smith, Peter H. "Mexico Since 1946: Dynamics of an Authoritarian Regime" in Mexico Since Independence, Leslie Bethell, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press 1991, pp. 339-40
His administration also built a new campus for the National University (UNAM) in the south of the city, moving it from its previous location in downtown Mexico City.