Getúlio Vargas

Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954.

Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazil's provisional, constitutional, and dictatorial leader, he is considered by historians as the most influential Brazilian politician of the 20th century.

Born on 19 April 1882 in São Borja, Rio Grande do Sul, to a powerful local family, Vargas had a short stint in the Brazilian Army before entering law school.

He began his political career as district attorney, soon becoming a state deputy prior to a brief departure from politics.

Getúlio Dornelles Vargas was born in São Borja, Rio Grande do Sul, on 19 April 1882, the third of five sons born to Manuel do Nascimento Vargas and Cândida Dornelles Vargas.

Located near Brazil's border with Argentina, the town of São Borja was a center of smuggling, political adventurism, and armed conflict, and Rio Grande do Sul was also known for an unusually violent history.

The Vargas family reflected some of these characteristics.

He joined the army in 1898 despite his father's protests, enlisting as a private in the 6th Infantry Battalion for one year.

In 1899, he was promoted to sergeant.

He also joined the military college at Rio Pardo and studied there until 1901.

However, Vargas and twenty other cadets were forced to leave when they joined in a protest over lack of water.

Only some time later did an amnesty allow him and the others to return.

Coincidentally, Vargas was sent to Corumbá in what was then Mato Grosso before his examination was conducted when a border crisis broke out between Bolivia and Brazil in February 1903.

The disillusioned Vargas did not have to fight as the dispute was settled before he arrived, later saying that living under difficult conditions allowed him to learn to judge others, though he was disappointed from being kept idle and non-combatant.

He asked for a discharge once again, and was able to obtain paperwork falsely stating he had had epilepsy.

In 1919, 76 residents of São Borja complained to the state government about the Vargases' "coercive" actions, and in 1933, during Vargas's first presidency, two of his nephews were killed in a border clash.

Vargas's mother Cândida was described as being "short and fat and pleasant" by her nephew Spártaco.

Her side of the family came from the Azores and included some founders of Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.

Vargas's father Manuel was one of fourteen children, an honored military general for his service in the Paraguayan War, and a local Riograndense Republican Party leader.

Manuel's family had a background in Azores and São Paulo.

During the Federalist Revolution, Cândida's side of the family became maragatos, or federalists, while Manuel's side fought on the chimango, or republican, side.

Their marriage brought together the two warring factions in the region.

Vargas had a happy childhood thanks to the respect his mother received from the town due to her position between the two political factions.

Vargas studied at a private primary school in São Borja run by Francisco Braga.

He did not finish, however, for Vargas was sent to the Ouro Preto Preparatory School in Minas Gerais.

The invitation was at the request of his brothers, and Vargas traveled by boat from Buenos Aires in Argentina, rushing as quickly as possible overland due to a yellow fever outbreak in Rio de Janeiro.

At the school, Vargas was the subject of hostility by his fellow cadets, taunted with the nickname xuxu, or chayote, for his height (5ft 2in) and "round shape".

Vargas and his elder brothers were forced out of the school after Vargas's brother Viriato, with the aid of his brother Protasio, shot fellow cadet Carlos Prado to death.

Like his father, Vargas embarked on a military career.

After returning to the state Legislative Assembly, Vargas led troops during Rio Grande do Sul's 1923 civil war.

He entered national politics as a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

Afterward, Vargas served as Minister of Finance under president Washington Luís before resigning to head Rio Grande do Sul as state president, during which he had an active tenure and introduced many policies.

Still having time to serve, Vargas was then transferred to Porto Alegre and joined the 25th Infantry Battalion.

He tried leaving to enroll in law school, but his discharge was delayed due to a medical examination that was required.

In 1930, after losing the presidential election, Vargas rose to power under a provisional presidency following an armed revolution, remaining until 1934 when he was elected president under a new constitution.

Three years later he seized powers under the pretext of a potential communist insurrection, beginning the eight-year long Estado Novo dictatorship.

Though there was notable opposition to his government, the major revolts – the 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution in his provisional government, the Communist uprising of 1935 in his constitutional presidency, and the Brazilian Integralist Action's putsch in his dictatorship – were all successfully suppressed; the methods Vargas used in quelling his opposition ranged from light peace terms to jailing political opponents.

In 1942, he led Brazil into World War II on the side of the Allies after being sandwiched between Nazi Germany and the United States.

Ousted in 1945 after fifteen years in power, Vargas returned to the presidency democratically after winning the 1950 Brazilian general election.

However, a growing political crisis led to his suicide in 1954, prematurely ending his second presidency.