Plutarco Elías Calles

President of Mexico

25 September 1877 Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico

19 October 1945(1945-10-19) (68) Mexico City, D.F., Mexico

1 December 1924 – 30 November 1928

Mexican military general and politician Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican military general and politician, and a freemason. He was the powerful interior minister under President Álvaro Obregón, who chose Calles as his successor, he was violently anticlerical and fought against the Catholic Church. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist presidential campaign in Mexico's history, as he called for land redistribution and promised equal justice, more education, additional labour rights, and democratic governance. After Calles' populist phase (1924–1926) he ushered in a state atheism phase (1926–1928), ushering a period of persecution against Catholics. After leaving office he continued to be the dominant leader from 1928 to 1935, a period known as the Maximato, after a title Calles awarded to himself, Jefe Máximo (Maximum Chief) of the Revolution. Calles is most noted for his implementation of anti-Catholic laws in the Mexican constitution. This led to the Cristero War, a civil war involving Catholics opposed to the administration. Calles also founded the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1929. The party had ensured political stability in the wake of the assassination of president-elect Alvaro Obregón in 1928. In its two subsequent incarnations, it held power continuously from 1929 to 2000.