Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada 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, Fox was elected president on the National Action Party ticket in the 2000 election. He became the first president not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party 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. 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.
As president, Fox continued the neoliberal economic policies his predecessors from the PRI had adopted since the 1980s. The first half of his administration saw a further shift of the federal government to the right, strong relations with the United States and George W. Bush, unsuccessful attempts to introduce a value-added tax to medicines and build an airport in Texcoco, and a diplomatic conflict with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. 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. 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. 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, who claimed the elections had been fraudulent and refused to recognize the results, calling for protests across the country. In the same year, there was civil unrest in Oaxaca, where a teacher's strike culminated into protests and violent clashes asking for the resignation of governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, and in the State of Mexico during the San Salvador Atenco riots, where the state and federal governments were later found guilty by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of human rights violations during the violent repression. On the other hand, Fox was credited with maintaining economic growth and reducing the poverty rate from 43.7% in 2000 to 35.6% in 2006.
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. He is currently the co-president of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of centre-right political parties. Fox was expelled from the PAN in 2013, after having endorsed the PRI presidential candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, in the 2012 elections. In the 2018 election, Fox endorsed the PRI candidate, José Antonio Meade.
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. 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. 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.
Business career
In 1964, Fox was hired by the Coca-Cola Company as a route supervisor and drove a delivery truck. After nine years, he had risen to the top, serving as the President and Chief Executive of Coca-Cola Mexico; after six years in this role, he was invited to lead all of Coca-Cola's operations in Latin America, but Fox declined and later resigned from Coca-Cola in 1979. It was during the Fox's leadership of Coca-Cola Mexico that Coke became Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing Coca-Cola's sales by almost 50%.After retiring from Coca-Cola, Fox began to participate in various public activities in Guanajuato, where he created the "Patronato de la Casa Cuna Amigo Daniel", an orphanage. He was also the president of the Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the León campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana and of the Lux Institute.
Family life
In 1969, Fox married Lilian de la Concha, a receptionist at Coca-Cola. They had four children, Ana Cristina, Vicente, Paulina and Rodrigo. In 1990, after 20 years of marriage, Lilian filed for and was granted a divorce.Fox remarried on 2 July 2001, while serving as President of Mexico, to Marta María Sahagún Jiménez. The wedding date was the first anniversary of his presidential election and his 59th birthday. For both Fox and Sahagún Jiménez, it was their second marriage.
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.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. The state congress appointed Carlos Medina Plascencia of the PAN as interim governor.In the 1995 Guanajuato state election, Fox ran again, and was elected governor with over 58% of the vote. As governor, Fox promoted government efficiency and transparency. He was one of the first state governors of Mexico to give a clear, public and timely account of the finances of his state.
Fox also pushed for the consolidation of small firms, promoted the overseas sales of goods manufactured in Guanajuato, and created an extensive system of small loans to allow the poor to open a changarro and buy a car and a television. Under Fox, Guanajuato became the fifth most important Mexican state economy.
Campaign for president
On 7 July 1997, after the opposition parties first won a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, Vicente Fox decided to run for President of Mexico. In spite of opposition within his political party, Fox secured his candidacy representing the Alliance for Change, a political coalition formed by the National Action Party and the Green Ecological Party of Mexico on 14 November 1999.During the course of his campaign, a presidential debate was organized, but the three main contenders disagreed on the details. One notable disagreement, which was broadcast on national television, was whether the presidential debate should be held that same day or on the following Friday.
During the nationally televised presidential debate, Fox's main opponent, Francisco Labastida, claimed that Fox had repeatedly called him a "sissy" and a "cross-dresser". Fox's campaign slogans were "¡Ya!", "Ya ganamos", and "Vota Alianza por el Cambio".
In addition to some debate controversies, Fox also faced some controversy due to Amigos de Fox, a nonprofit fundraising group established by Denise Montaño. The group was instrumental in getting Vicente Fox elected President of Mexico, and the phrase "Amigos de Fox" was used as a campaign slogan referring to the millions of people supporting Fox in the 2000 presidential election.
In 2003, money-laundering charges were lodged against Amigos de Fox, but were dropped shortly before the July 2003 midterm elections.
Election results
On 2 July 2000, his 58th birthday, Fox won the presidential election with 43% of the popular vote, followed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate Francisco Labastida with 36%, and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution with 17%. Fox declared victory that same night, a victory that was ratified by then-President Zedillo. After the final results were announced, President-elect Fox addressed thousands of supporters and celebrated his victory with them at the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City. His opponents conceded the election later that night.After securing the election, Fox received substantial media coverage, as well as numerous congratulatory messages and phone calls from world leaders, including then-President of the United States Bill Clinton. He took office on 1 December 2000, the first time since 1917 that an opposition candidate had taken power from the long-reigning Institutional Revolutionary Party.
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. At, Fox easily stood out in most crowds, and is believed to be one of the tallest presidents in Mexico's history. 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.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".