Vicente Fox Quesada (born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist,[1][2][3][4] Fox was elected president on the National Action Party (PAN) ticket in the 2000 election. He became the first president not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) since 1929, and the first elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. Fox won the election with 43 percent of the vote.[5] Considered a social-welfare promoter, along with Julio Frenk Mora, he formulated, signed and implemented the Seguro Popular which helped circa 55 million independent workers.[6]
As president, Fox continued the neoliberal economic policies his predecessors from the PRI had adopted since the 1980s.[7] The first half of his administration saw a further shift of the federal government to the right,[1][2] strong relations with the United States and George W. Bush,[8] unsuccessful attempts to introduce a value-added tax to medicines and build an airport in Texcoco,[9][10] and a diplomatic conflict with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.[11] The murder of human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa in 2001 called into question the Fox administration's commitment to breaking with the authoritarian past of the PRI era.
The second half of his administration was marked by his conflict with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the mayor of Mexico City. The PAN and Fox administration unsuccessfully attempted to remove López Obrador from office and prevent him from participating in the 2006 presidential elections.[12][13] The Fox administration also became embroiled with diplomatic conflicts with Venezuela and Bolivia after supporting the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which was opposed by those two countries.[14][15] His last year in office oversaw the controversial 2006 elections, where PAN candidate Felipe Calderón was declared winner by a narrow margin over López Obrador,[16] who claimed the elections had been fraudulent and refused to recognize the results, calling for protests across the country.[17]
After his presidency, Fox returned to his home state of Guanajuato. He has been involved in public speaking and the development of the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum.[21] He is currently the co-president of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of centre-right political parties.[22] Fox was expelled from the PAN in 2013, after having endorsed the PRI presidential candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, in the 2012 elections.[23] In the 2018 election, Fox endorsed the PRI candidate, José Antonio Meade.[24]
Early years
Vicente Fox Quesada was born on 2 July 1942 in Mexico City, the second of nine children. His father, José Luis Fox Pont, was a native-born Mexican of German-American descent.[25] His mother, Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was a Spanish Basque immigrant from San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa. Fox's family name was originally Fuchs, but was anglicized to "Fox" at some point. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Louis Fuchs, was born in Cincinnati in 1865, attended Woodward High School and moved to Mexico at age 32.
Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato. He spent a year at Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin where he learned English.[26] Upon reaching college age, Fox moved to Mexico City to attend the Universidad Iberoamericana and received a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1964. Then in 1974, Fox received a certificate in management skills from Harvard Business School.[27]
Early political career
With the support of Manuel Clouthier, Vicente Fox joined the Partido Acción Nacional on 1 March 1988. That same year, he was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies, representing the third congressional district in León, Guanajuato.[32]
Governor of Guanajuato
In 1991, after serving in the Chamber of Deputies, Fox sought the governorship in Guanajuato, but lost the disputed election to Ramón Aguirre Velázquez of the PRI. Following the election, local discontent over allegations of fraud surrounding Aguirre Velázquez's victory led the PRI candidate to decline to take office.[35][36] The state congress appointed Carlos Medina Plascencia of the PAN as interim governor.[37]
Presidency (2000–2006)
Public image
During his campaign for president, Vicente Fox became well known for his cowboy style and quirkiness. As a speaker, Fox usually attracted big crowds in the early years of his presidency.[48] At 6 ft, Fox easily stood out in most crowds, and is believed to be one of the tallest presidents in Mexico's history.[49] After his inauguration, President Fox usually wore suits for formal occasions, but opted to wear his signature boots and jeans during his many visits around Mexico.[50]
Fox spread his image as one of peace and welcomed many to his own ranch in the state of Guanajuato. When Fox welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush to the ranch, both presidents were wearing Fox's signature black cowboy boots, prompting The Wall Street Journal to call it "The Boot Summit".[51]
Post-presidential life
Public speaking and advocacy
Since leaving office in December 2006, Fox has maintained himself in the public eye by speaking in countries such as Nigeria, Ireland,[82] Canada, and the United States about topics such as the controversial 2006 election and the Iraq War. In Mexico, Fox has been criticized by some for his busy post-presidency since former Mexican presidents are traditionally expected to stay out of the political spotlight. In response, Fox has stated, "There is no reason to hold to the anti-democratic rules of those who still live in the authoritarian past . . . now that Mexico is a democracy, every citizen has the right to express himself, even a former president."[83]
Vicente Fox joined four other Latin American presidents at the One Young World Summit 2014 in Dublin, Ireland,[84] to discuss the Telefónica Millennial Survey. He told those in the audience that eradicating corruption "has to start with education" and that his focus is now on promoting leadership.
Honors
- ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Cross BAR.png Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Argentina)
- POL Order Zaslugi RP kl1 BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2004)[144]
- AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 1st Class BAR.svg Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria, 2005)[145]
- LTU Order of Vytautas the Great - Grand Cross BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (Lithuania, 14 January 2002)[146]
- UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon.svg Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (United Kingdom)[147]
See also
- History of Mexico
- List of presidents of Mexico
- Politics of Mexico
Further reading
- Schmidt, Samuel (2000). México encadenado: El legado de Zedillo y los retos de Fox. México, D.F.: Colibrí.
External links
- Vicente Fox website during his Presidency
- Vicente Fox Museum and Library
- Extended bio and presidential tenure by CIDOB Foundation
- Vicente Fox Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
- Miguel Angel Mancera Espinosa
References
- Continental Order?: Integrating North America for Cybercapitalism Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001^
- Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges Cengage Learning, 1 January 2018^
- El populismo de derecha Proceso, 10 September 2004, retrieved 4 March 2018