JUAN BAUTISTA CEBALLOS: BIOGRAPHY, CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS GOVERNMENT, CONTRIBUTIONS - ARTE - 2024

Juan Bautista Ceballos (1811-1859) served as President of Mexico with the particularity that he was only in office for a little over a month. His arrival to power came after the resignation of his predecessor Mariano Arista in 1853. From the beginning it was agreed that his role in the presidency would be on an interim basis.

It is noteworthy to say that Bautista was part of the liberal movement of Mexican politics and that, in addition to the presidency, he held other important positions in Mexico as a legal consultant and member of the Supreme Court of Justice.

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During his time as president of Mexico, he experienced constant opposition from different political groups. He was accused during his tenure of treason for trying to change the country's constitution, promulgated in 1824.

Biography

Family and education

On May 13, 1811, Juan Bautista Loreto Mucio Francisco José de Asís de la Santísima Trinidad Ceballos Gómez Sañudo was born in Durango. Known simply as Juan Bautista Ceballos, he went down in history as the interim president of Mexico in 1853.

Bautista Ceballos was part of a well-off family in Durango, being the third child that the couple of Juan Ceballos and María Gómez had.

In total he had four siblings. The two oldest were Gregorio and José Alejandro, while José Ramón and Domingo were the two younger brothers of the future politician.

In 1819 the whole family moved to Morelia, which at that time was known as Valladolid. This change was due to the death of Bautista's grandfather by his mother.

Bautista Ceballos's education was at the Colegio San Nicolás Obispo, an institution from which he graduated in 1835 as a lawyer. Throughout his university training, he forged a great friendship with Melchor Ocampo and José Nemesio Degollado, who would later become key figures of liberal thought in Mexico.

First steps

Bautista Ceballos began to gain notoriety as a lawyer and due to his performance he was able to occupy some political positions from a very young age.

He was a federal deputy three times. First in 1842, then five years later and for the last time in 1851. He was also elected as secretary in Melchor Ocampo's stage as governor.

As a representative of Michoacán, he was part of the constituent congress. He became vice president of Congress from December 1846 to January 1847.

In 1848 Bautista Ceballos was elected as a senator. He was in office for a couple of months because he asked for a leave of absence after being elected as governor of Michoacán in July of that same year. He served as governor until March 1851 when he decided to resign.

He became part of the Supreme Court of Justice where he was from 1851 to 1853. Throughout the last year at the institution he was president of it. In this position he is remembered for having opposed the decree of September 21 that eliminated freedom of the press in the country.

Bautista Ceballos later became the president of Mexico, albeit on an interim basis.

Arrival to the presidency

In 1851 José Mariano Martín Buenaventura Ignacio Nepomuceno García de Arista Nuez, better known simply as Mariano Arista, was elected to the office of President of Mexico. During his government the country went through a severe economic crisis. Arista requested special powers from Congress to deal with the situation, but the request was denied.

Given the lack of support from the institutions, Arista decided to resign the presidency. He presented his resignation on January 5, 1853 with a letter addressed to the Congress of Mexico.

In the letter sent by Arista there was a request that Juan Bautista Ceballos be the person in charge of assuming the reins of the government. This request responded to the fact that Bautista was the president of the Supreme Court of Justice. It was the way to avoid the power vacuum while the congress of the nation called elections.

The deputies accepted Arista's resignation and proposed six candidates for the interim presidency. Bautista Ceballos won with 59 votes out of eighty-four possible. It was followed by Mariano Rivas with only 14 votes, Juan Nepomuceno with four, Melchor Ocampo and Juan Álvarez received two and Juan Múgica only one vote.

Leaving the presidency

The deputies and senators of Mexico began to conspire for the speedy departure of Bautista Ceballos and the return to power of Santa Anna. They sought military support from Commander Manuel María Lombardini.

Bautista Ceballos had to reach an agreement with his detractors, but he was not able to stop the discontent, much less the military. So on February 7, 1853, Bautista Ceballos decided to resign from the presidency of Mexico. Lombardini took office, who remained in power until April 20 of the same year.

Last years

Bautista Ceballos returned to political life three years after leaving the presidency. He was a member of the Constituent Congress as a representative of the state of Michoacán and the territory of Colima.

When Santa Anna returned to the presidency of Mexico, he offered him the Order of Guadalupe, but the politician did not accept the offer.

In 1857 Bautista Ceballos decided to leave Mexico. His departure from the country coincided with the beginning of the War of the Reform. He died two years later when he was only 48 years old.

He left no greater fortunes in his will when he died.

Characteristics of his government

Bautista Ceballos served as President of Mexico for 32 days. His interim government began on Thursday, January 6, after seven in the evening.

The new president of the Republic was sworn in in the Chamber of Deputies and representatives of the congress showed their support.

Two days after his appointment as president, Bautista Ceballos appointed his work team. Many of them did not have much experience in politics, much less dealing with issues of importance to the nation.

Contributions

Bautista Ceballos asked the Congress of Mexico for special powers to deal with the country's economic situation. Unlike what happened with Arista days before, Bautista Ceballos had the support of the institution.

But problems were not long in coming for the interim president. He requested that the Constitution that had been approved in 1824 be reformed. Congress showed its rejection of the idea and Bautista Ceballos was accused of treason.

In response, the president decided to eliminate both houses of Congress. Since then, work has been done to remove him from office and for Santa Anna to return to power.

References

1. Barroso Estrada, M., & Hagg and Saab, G. (2005). A sketch of the history of Mexico. Mexico: Pearson Education.
2. Lugo Morales, A. (2012). Political parties in Mexico and the presidential succession in 2012. Bloomington, IN.: Del Puerto Publications.
3. Rodríguez Alanis, M. (2010). Mexican historical compilation. Mexico, DF: National Polytechnic Institute.
4. Rosas, A., & Villalpando César, J. (2010). The presidents of Mexico. Mexico, DF: Planeta.
5. Valadés, J., & Acosta Romero, O. (1996). The judgment of history. Mexico: UNAM, Coordination of Humanities.