Miguel Alemán Valdés

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, the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals.

His administration was characterized by Mexico's rapid industrialization, often called the Mexican Miracle, but also for a high level of personal enrichment for himself and his associates.

His presidency was the first of a new generation of Mexican 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.

Alemán was born in Sayula in the state of Veracruz, 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 huaraches hurt his feet, he would urinate on them to soften the leather.

His father, Miguel Alemán González, began fighting before the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, a so-called "precursor" in a region of Veracruz state.

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 Cándido Aguilar, 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, Arnulfo R. Gómez, and was on the run.

Alemán did that, attending the National Preparatory School in Mexico City from 1920 to 1925, founding the newspaper Eureka.

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; Héctor Pérez Martínez; Andrés Serra Rojas; Manuel Ramírez Vázquez; Luis Garrido Díaz, who became rector of UNAM during Alemán's presidency; Antonio Carrillo Flores, who was director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica; and Alfonso Noriega Cantú, head of the Confederación de Cámaras Industriales.

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.

Alemán started public service with a relatively minor appointment as legal adviser to the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock (1928–30).

The general met his end in March 1929 in a hail of bullets, probably committing suicide.

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.

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."

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.

The appointment can be seen as a political reward from the Cárdenas administration for helping oust Plutarco Elías Calles during the intra-party struggle.

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.

President Avila 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 Avila Camacho's older brother, Maximino Ávila Camacho.

The Avila 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.

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.

Miguel Henriquez Guzmán, Enrique Calderón, Jesús Agustín Castro, and Francisco Castillo Nájera were in consideration.