The Fall Of Madero

Instrumental in bringing down the government of Porfirio Diaz, Francisco Madero became Mexico's President in 1911, after helping to rid the country of the dictator. He was essentially a political moderate, and even though the changes he helped bring about in the nation were worthy of respect, he wasn't educated in the ways of politics, and failed to size up his enemies in time to save his own Presidency from failing.

Madero's first mistake was to allow a supporter of Diaz to be the interim president for five months while he continued to work with the revolutionaries in the countryside. The Diaz-supporting Congress had time to plan and mount a coordinated opposition to Francisco when he finally did take office in November 1911. Suddenly in charge of an entire nation which was full of turmoil and violent upheaval, the aristocrat had no idea where to begin.

In an attempt to please the old supporters of the Diaz regime, Madero appointed several of them to his cabinet, where they worked to resist every attempt at reform he tried to make. Liberal revolutionaries were angered by some of his policies, which they felt were too easy on the brutal Porfirians, and which they felt were not likely to bring about change quickly enough. The new liberated and uncensored media were perhaps unduly hard on Francisco, and they portrayed his treatment of three rebellions that broke out against him, in an unflattering light.

Despite dealing with rebellions in a less than graceful way, Madero did have several accomplishments during his brief term. He created the Department of Labor, and introduced some moderate agrarian reforms. He also built schools, highways, and railroads, and created a program to give school lunches out to poor neighborhoods. Basically he became the target of dissent by both parties, and he wasn't a skilled enough politician to withstand the barrage of criticism directed at him.

In 1913, the commander of the army, Victoriano Huerta, conspired with Felix Diaz, Bernardo Reyes, and the U.S ambassador to oust their leader. Ten Tragic Days ('La Decena Tragica') was the siege that resulted; Madero accepted the commander's protection, only to be betrayed and arrested. His brother was kidnapped, tortured, and killed. Francisco was forced to resign, and was shot three days later. The tragedy only served to make the Mexican Revolution longer and bloodier, as the government was once again run by a corrupt, backstabbing military man. Things wouldn't settle down until around 1929, when cooler heads prevailed in politics.