William Walker (filibuster)

President of the Republic of Nicaragua

May 8, 1824 Nashville, Tennessee

September 12, 1860(1860-09-12) (36) Trujillo, Honduras

July 12, 1856 – May 1, 1857

American filibuster, physician, lawyer and journalist (1824–1860) For other people named William Walker, see William Walker (disambiguation). William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was an American physician, lawyer, journalist, and mercenary who organized several private military expeditions into Mexico and Central America with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known as "filibustering". Walker usurped the presidency of Nicaragua in July 1856 and ruled until May 1, 1857, when he was forced out of the presidency and the country by a coalition of Central American armies. He returned in an attempt to re-establish his control of the region and was captured and executed by the government of Honduras in 1860.