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Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada
Mexican politician and military officer (1895-1955) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada (22 March 1895 – 1 May 1955) was a Mexican military officer and politician who served as secretary of the navy from 1952 until his death in 1955, during the presidency of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines. He previously served as the governor of the territory of Baja California from 1937 to 1944 and as president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) from 1946 to 1952.
Born in the state of Puebla, Sánchez joined the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revolution. He rose through the ranks, supporting the government during several rebellions. He eventually became the governor of Baja California, at the time still a federal territory. He then became president of the PRI, becoming the first to serve a second term in the position. Sánchez implemented an anti-communist platform for the party and directed the successful presidential campaign of Ruiz Cortines in 1952. He also acted as a political mentor to Luis Echeverría, a future Mexican president.
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Youth and family
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Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada was born in San Sebastián Villanueva, in Acatzingo, Puebla, on 22 March 1895.[1][2][3][a] His parents were Tirso "Charro" Sánchez Limón and Margarita Taboada.[1][2] He attended primary school at the Colegio de San José, and secondary school at the state college.[2][4]
He was married to Eva Sánchez de Sánchez Taboada, and they had two children.[5] His son, Rodolfo Sánchez Cruz, who was also a PRI official, died in 2016.[6] His daughter, Margarita Sánchez, died in 2018.[7] Through his son, Sánchez Taboada had three grandchildren: Laura Alicia, Manuel, and Rodolfo Sánchez Corro.[6]
Military career
In February 1913, during the Mexican Revolution, President Francisco I. Madero was overthrown by Victoriano Huerta. This inspired Sánchez to join the Constitutionalist forces, serving under Fortunato Maycotte.[2][4] He enrolled in the Heroic Military Academy on 10 November 1914 as a sub-lieutenant to join the medical corps.[2][8] He fought Villistas and Zapatistas in Morelos under the command of Col. Jesús Guajardo.[2][9] Sánchez participated in Guajardo's successful operation to assassinate Emiliano Zapata in Chinameca, Morelos[7] in 1919.[10]
Sánchez supported General Álvaro Obregón's Plan of Agua Prieta[2][7] against President Venustiano Carranza in 1920.[11] He remained loyal to Obregón's forces during the Delahuertista Rebellion[2][7] of 1923 to 1924[12] and the government during the Escobar Rebellion[2][7] of 1929.[13]
Sánchez was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in late 1952.[2][9][b]
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Political career
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Governor of Baja California
Sánchez was elected to serve as the governor of Baja California on 1 March 1937.[2] At the time of his governorship, Baja California was a federal territory.[5][14] During his administration, the second Pro-State Committee (Spanish: Comité Pro-Estado) was formed in 1940, following the first in 1929.[14] The territory would ultimately become a state in 1952.[14][15]
During World War II, a national directive was issued that ordered governors to remove their Japanese populations to designated zones of Mexico City and Guadalajara. Sánchez quickly rounded up his state's Japanese population and forced them on trains and trucks bound for the zones. He gave them only twenty-four hours to evacuate, but ex-president Lázaro Cárdenas, who was in charge of military operations in the Pacific zone, expanded the timeframe to one week.[16] Sánchez's term ended on 31 July 1944. Afterwords, he returned to service in the army.[2]
President of the PRI
Sánchez became the president of the PRI on 4 December 1946, succeeding Rafael Pascasio Gamboa Cano.[3] Sánchez had been appointed Mexican President Miguel Alemán Valdés. Sánchez's predecessor was largely unknown and unpopular, and had been an attempt at "civilianizing" the party.[17] Sánchez became the first of four PRI presidents in a row from 1946 to 1964 who were all generals and some of Mexico's most prominent military figures.[17][18][19][c]
Following the declaration of the Truman Doctrine in the United States in 1947, the PRI followed its lead in adopting increasingly anti-communist stances. The party declared itself to be "neither extreme left nor extreme right" (Spanish: ni extrema izquierda ni extrema derecha). Sánchez declared that from that point on the PRI would not accept people from other parties, which was intended to allow for the expulsion of communists from the party.[20] He also sought to make the party amiable with the Catholic Church. In a 1951 tour of Mexico's southeast, he arranged several church visits and assured the press of the PRI's respect for "the religious beliefs of the pueblo".[21]
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In 1946, while he was serving as president of the PRI, he hired Luis Echeverría Álvarez to serve as his personal secretary. Echeverría would later serve as president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976.[22] Echeverría has been described as a protege of Sánchez, and the latter as Echeverría's mentor.[23][24] Sánchez also made him director general of press and propaganda of the PRI in 1949.[25] Echeverría later stated of Sánchez and his entry into politics:
When I was received I wanted to enter into political activities and I went to ask General Sánchez Toboada for work and he gave it to me and that decided everything... he decided my life.
Spanish: Cuando me recibí quise entrar en actividades políticas y fui a pedirle al general Sánchez Toboada trabajo y me lo dio y eso decidió todo... decidió mi vida.[26]
From 2 February to 4 February 1950, the PRI held its National Assembly, and Sánchez became the first president of the PRI to be reelected to the position. To satisfy the older wing of PRI politicians, the party removed the provisions from the party's statutes that called for internal elections of candidates, and all candidates from that point on would be elected by assemblies.[27]
In 1951, Sánchez called for a national convention to select the PRI's presidential candidate for the 1952 election, to be held from 11 October to 14 October.[28] On 13 October, Sánchez proposed Adolfo Ruiz Cortines as the candidate.[29] He subsequently became the candidate the following day.[30] Sánchez served as the director of his presidential campaign.[9][31] Ruiz Cortines used the slogan "austerity and work" (Spanish: austeridad y trabajo)[30] and endorsed women's suffrage.[15] Ruiz Cortines won the election with 2,713,419 votes,[32] or 74.3% of the vote.[33] He defeated three opponents: Miguel Henríquez Guzmán, Efraín González Luna, and Vicente Lombardo Toledano.[34] Sánchez's presidency of the PRI ended on 4 December 1952. He was succeeded by Gabriel Leyva Velázquez.[3][18]
Navy secretary and death
Upon assuming the presidency, Ruiz Cortines nominated Sánchez to serve as secretary of the navy.[31] Succeeding Raúl López Sánchez,[35] he assumed office on 1 December 1952.[31] Sánchez named Echeverría as General Director of Accounts and Administration of the Secretary of the Navy.[23][36]
Sánchez Taboada died in office of a myocardial infarction at 9 PM on 1 May 1955[31] in Mexico City.[3][9][d] He was buried in the Panteón Francés de Puebla in the city of Puebla on 3 May.[31] On 9 May, Ruiz Cortines nominated Alfonso Poire y Ruelas to succeed Sánchez.[37] Following Sánchez's death, Echeverría was made a senior officer of the Secretariat of Public Education.[25]
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Legacy
Mexicali International Airport is named after Sánchez. A borough in the area of the Tijuana River also bears his name.[7] A bust of Sánchez Taboada existed on a street named after him in Guaymas, Sonora, but it was stolen in 2012. In 2020, a replacement bust was unveiled.[38]
Notes
- Emilio Chuayffet and Salvador Cienfuegos give his date of birth as 7 May.[4]
- Those four were Sánchez, Gabriel Leyva Velázquez, Agustín Olachea, and Alfonso Corona del Rosa.[19]
- Fernández Pavón cites his death date as 1 May at 9 PM.[31] A contemporary report in the New York Times states that he died in the morning on 2 May,[5] a date which Alejandro Domínguez also gives.[3] Chuayffet and Cienfuegos state that he died on 3 May.[9]
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References
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