MIGUEL ALEMÁN VALDÉS: BIOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT AND CONTRIBUTIONS - HISTORY - 2025

Miguel Alemán Valdés was a Mexican lawyer and politician who served as president of Mexico during the period 1946-1952, where he made notable contributions to the development of the country. In addition to his political career, which led him to hold important positions in the public administration, he served as a trial lawyer and businessman.

He became one of the most prosperous men in the country due to his entrepreneurial spirit that he cultivated from a very young age, when he had to work to help his family. He was recognized as a fervent lover of peace and promoter of Mexican progress.

His fruitful government work was reflected in the construction of roads and modern railways, schools and other educational institutions. He promoted the economic development of the nation by attracting national and foreign investment.

Developed health and literacy programs in rural areas of the country. His particular inclination for culture contributed to the promotion of artistic activities inside and outside of Mexico. One of his greatest contributions to the nation was having managed to position Mexico among the main tourist destinations in the world.

In addition to the presidency of the republic, Alemán Valdés came to occupy the most important positions in the state and federal public administration. Among these, those of deputy, senator, governor of the state of Veracruz, president of the National Tourism Commission and other important institutions stand out.

His services to the country from the diplomatic field as a plenipotentiary ambassador on a special mission were innumerable. It fostered good relations of friendship and cooperation between Mexico and other countries thanks to its relationship with multiple international organizations.

Biography

Alemán Valdés was born in the city of Sayula, state of Veracruz, on September 29, 1900. His father was General Miguel Alemán González and his mother Tomasa Valdés Ledesma. The first years of his childhood and adolescence were spent between Acayucan, Coatzacoalcos and Orizaba where he studied primary and secondary school.

Due to the economic situation and the lack of a permanent job for his father, the family had to move several times. In Orizaba she had the opportunity to live with indigenous children of the Popoloca ethnic group, from whom she learned their dialect due to their talent for languages.

From an early age he excelled in studies and tried to help his family in supporting the home. In 1920 he entered the National Preparatory School in Mexico City. There he had diverse interests, among these the letters and politics stand out. He was one of the founders of the Eureka newspaper in which he participated for five years.

In his high school years he made great friends, who accompanied him throughout his life. He was a charismatic man who for his sympathy gained the appreciation of the student community. In 1923 the family's economic situation forced him to return to Coatzacoalcos.

His father was unemployed, so his mother decided to open a grocery store to support the family. Miguel was hired at the oil company where he learned to speak English; later this opened many doors for him.

Career

In 1925 he returned to Mexico City to study at the National School of Jurisprudence of the National University of Mexico. He was reunited with several of his high school friends, with whom he signed a friendship pact that would become known as the H-1920 group. This political brotherhood with his companions was maintained throughout his life.

In 1928 he obtained a Bachelor of Law degree and his graduate thesis dealt with diseases and professional risks, based on a field work carried out in Pachuca, Hidalgo. In fact, during his professional career as a lawyer, he was a faithful defender of the rights of workers and people in general.

That year he joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Development as an assistant lawyer, later being appointed head of the Forestry Department. At the same time that he was exercising public functions, he litigated alongside his colleagues and friends Rogelio de la Selva, Gabriel Ramos and Manuel Ramírez Vázquez.

The young attorney specialized in compensation cases for mine and railroad employees. During this same period, he became a businessman and was part of a company specialized in dividing up old farms in Mexico City; for example, the colonies of Anzures and Polanco.

Manuel's group of lawyers and businessmen was supported by General Manuel Ávila Camacho. The novice builders obtained permits to develop land in Cuernavaca, Morelos state.

Political career

Miguel Alemán joined the National Revolutionary Party (PNR), which had been created that year, 1929. On the death of his father in 1929, he returned to Mexico City where he worked with his uncle, Eugenio Méndez.

In that same year he was appointed assistant lawyer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Development, and later he was director of the Forest Department. Two years later he appeared as a candidate for deputy for Coatzacoalcos; however, his party supported another candidate.

At that moment, he understood that in order to do politics in Mexico, he first had to make money, according to the historian Enrique Krauze. In 1930 he became a member of the Federal Board of Conciliation and Arbitration.

A year later, in 1931, he married Beatriz Velasco, a wealthy middle-class young woman from Celaya, Guanajuato. With her he procreated his two children: Miguel Alemán Velasco and Beatriz Alemán Velasco.

Alemán was in charge of directing the presidential campaign of Lázaro Cárdenas in 1933 in Veracruz. After the triumph of Cárdenas he was rewarded in 1934, appointing him a magistrate of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District.

In 1934 he again ran as a candidate for a local deputation in his native land of Veracruz, although in 1932 he had already assumed as a substitute deputy for Coatzacoalcos.

He was elected senator for the period 1934-1936, the year in which he assumed as governor of the state of Veracruz after the assassination of the elected incumbent governor Manlio Fabio Altamirano. His work as an entrepreneur was reflected in various initiatives to modernize the state administration and promote economic development.

Road to the presidency

Thanks to his conciliatory character, Alemán was able to calm the religious effervescence in his state by reopening the churches that had remained closed. His support for the peasant cause was decisive in achieving the unification of the agrarian movement, which he continued to support as president.

In 1938 he led a movement of support among governors for President Lázaro Cárdenas, who expropriated and nationalized the oil industry that year.

Between 1939 and 1940 he directed the electoral campaign of General Manuel Ávila Camacho who, upon being elected President of the Republic, appointed him Secretary of the Interior. He was in this position until 1945, when he was nominated as a PRM presidential candidate. This political organization became the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

The death of Maximino Ávila Camacho, at the time the president's brother and a strong presidential candidate, cleared the way for him. It received the support of the powerful Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) and the National Confederation of Popular Organizations (CNOP), and even the Mexican Communist Party itself.

Miguel Alemán Valdés triumphed in the elections of July 7, 1946 and became the 51st president of Mexico. His government management was developed between the six-year term 1946-1952. Upon leaving the presidency of the republic at the age of 49, he held the position of senator for the state of Veracruz.

Characteristics of his government

German with US President Harry Truman in 1947, during his visit to Mexico

The government administration of Miguel Alemán Valdés was characterized by the execution of an extensive program of road and educational infrastructure throughout the country, apart from successfully facing the global economic recession as a result of World War II, which caused the fall of the Mexican exports.

During his government, the Mexican peso was devalued and went from 4.80 to 8.60 pesos per dollar. Soon after, the national currency was revalued again.

It was a stage of great urban development, as more cities were created. The construction industry was promoted through extensive subsidized housing programs for civil servants. Ambitious popular housing programs were also developed.

Like the governments that preceded it, during Alemán Valdés 'administration, workers' demonstrations were repressed. The trade union organizations fought to obtain better wages and the lack of democracy in the main workers' centrals was denounced.

It was a government characterized by promoting international relations in favor of Mexico and other countries, to the point that in the last year of his government, in 1952, Alemán Valdez was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the following year as well.

The first time it was proposed by the President of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador José María Salazar, and the second time by the Foreign Minister of Haiti, Albert Etheart.

Contributions

Acapulco

Among the most outstanding contributions of the government of President Alemán Valdés are the following:

- Expansion of the national network of roads and railways (Southeastern railway), despite the economic crisis of the time.

- Improvement of the hydraulic network for the supply of water to Mexico City.

- Construction of the modern Mexico City International Airport.

- Support to producers in the Mexican countryside through the installation and improvement of irrigation systems.

- Support for the organization and unification of the agrarian movement, together with support for the peasants with the distribution of land.

- Encouragement of private investment, which increased considerably and made possible the increase of the country's industrial park as well as urban development programs.

- Expansion of the automotive industry and motor and appliance factories.

- Determined support for national tourism by encouraging the construction of hotels and other tourist infrastructure, especially in the port of Acapulco, where the emblematic Scenic Avenue was built.

- Development of campaigns for the eradication of smallpox and the initiation of vaccination cycles of cattle against foot-and-mouth disease.

- The Federal Electricity Commission was strengthened to extend the power lines to different areas of the country without service.

- Mexican culture was promoted abroad. Support was provided to personalities from the literary and artistic world of the country.

- Creation of the National Conservatory of Music.

- Construction of educational establishments to serve the child population at the primary education level.

- Promotion of preschool, primary and secondary education through the reform of article 3 of the Mexican Constitution. Similarly, a comprehensive educational program to combat illiteracy was launched.

- Various educational and cultural institutions were created in this period, such as the General Directorate of Normal Education and the National Institute of Pedagogy. Likewise, the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature and the Technical College of Higher Education and Scientific Research were created.

- The first buildings of the University City, headquarters of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), were built and inaugurated. The National School of Teachers and the Polytechnic Institute were built.

- It is during this period of government when it was approved to grant women the right to vote in municipal elections.

- The territory of Baja California Norte was elevated to the rank of state.

- The new headquarters of the Naval School of Veracruz and the Military Aviation of Zapopan were built.

Other positions and awards

Miguel Alemán Valdés was a tireless man who worked all his life, for which he became a man of fortune. Upon leaving the presidency, he was retired from public life and political activity for several years. However, in 1961 he was called by President Adolfo López Mateos to take charge of the National Tourism Council.

From this institution, where he stayed for 25 years, Alemán Valdés dedicated himself to promoting the development of Mexican tourism. He was an active part in the organization of the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968 and was a partner of the television network Televisa.

He received various distinctions in Mexico and abroad for his performance in public life. His appointment as an honorary member of the Academies of the Language of Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Nicaragua stands out. He was awarded honorary doctorates at UNAM and three other American universities.

He was president of the Mexican Institute of Culture as well as of the Board of the San Carlos Museum. On May 14, 1983, he died of a heart attack in Mexico City.

References

1. Miguel Alemán Valdés. Retrieved on June 29, 2018 from presidents.mx
2. Biography. Consulted of miguelaleman.org
3. Miguel Alemán Valdés. Consulted of memoriapoliticademexico.org
4. Miguel Alemán Valdés. Consulted of Buscabiografias.com
5. Miguel Alemán Valdés. Consulted of biografiasyvidas.com
6. Contributions of the presidents of Mexico to education. Consulted of presidents-de-mex.blogspot.com
7. Miguel Alemán Valdés. Consulted of encyclopedia.us.es
8. They recognize achievements of Miguel Alemán Valdés. Consulted of eluniversal.com.mx