Class Exercise 2 (presidents)

PHOTO NAME

Carlos Salinas de Gortari

Presidential Period

1988-94

Born

Mexico City April 3rd 1948 Graduated with a degree in economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1969. Masters in Public Administration 1973/Masters of Arts 1976/PhD in Political Economy and Government in 1978 all from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Graduate School of arts and sciences.

Early Life and Education Political party

Insititutional Revolutionary Party

Economic Policy

It was not until the presidency of Miguel de la Madrid that he was assigned a government post as minister of the Bureau of Planning and Budget (Secretaría de Planeación y Presupuesto), where he served from 1982-1987. Carlos Salinas' popularity and credibility at the time was high.[citation needed] The economic bubble gave Mexico a prosperity not seen in a generation. This period of rapid growth coupled with low inflation prompted some political thinkers and the media to state that Mexico was on the verge of becoming a "First World nation".It was a known fact that the peso was overvalued, but the extent of the Mexican economy's vulnerability was either not well-known or downplayed by both the Salinas de Gortari administration and the media. In keeping with the PRI election-year tradition, Salinas launched a spending spree to finance popular projects (and thus bolster support for his own party), which translated into a historically high deficit. This budget deficit was coupled with a current account deficit, fueled by excessive consumer spending as allowed by the overvalued peso.

Source (WWW)

http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1235e0c67b4a2dda

Political Career

Top 5 songs playing at the time

Quit Playing games – Backstreet Boys I believe I can fly – R.Kelley Macarena – Los Del Rio Creep – TLC I’ll Make love to you – Boys II Men

PHOTO NAME

Ernesto Zedilla Ponce de León

Presidential Period

1994-2000

Born

December 27, 1951 His parents were Rodolfo Zedillo Castillo, a mechanic, and Martha Alicia Ponce de León. Seeking better job and education opportunities for his children, his parents moved to Mexicali, Baja California.His humble origins made him appreciate the idea of progress and self improvement, even though he was well aware of the few opportunities he had for this. Zedillo was educated in public schools in Mexicali where he was recognized as an excellent student. During his adolescence, young Ernesto actively participated in school events, such as alumni societies and head of the school newspaper.In 1965, at the age of 14, he returned to Mexico City. In 1969 he entered the National Polytechnic Institute, financing his studies by working in the National Army and Navy Bank (nowadays Banjercito). He graduated as an Economist in 1972 and began lecturing. It was among his first group of students where he met his wife, Nilda Patricia Velasco with whom he has 5 children: Ernesto, Emiliano, Carlos, Nilda Patricia and Rodrigo.

Early Life and Education

In 1974 he pursued his master's and Ph.D. studies at Yale University. His doctoral thesis was titled: "Mexico's public external debt: recent history and future growth related to oil".

Political party

Institutional Revolutionary Party

Zedillo contested against Diego Fernández de Cevallos and second-timer Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the National Action Party and Party of the Democratic Revolution respectively. He won by 48.69% of popular vote, some 17,181,651, and at the time this was the cleanest election in the country's history. His political motto was Bienestar para tu familia. His most lasting act of government was the creation of Progresa, a poverty-fighting program based on subsidizing the poorest families provided their children go to school, later renamed Oportunidades by president Vicente Fox. Zedillo's administration was unable to resolve the EZLN uprising in Chiapas, which lasted until Vicente Fox came to power. Two massacres took place during the presidency of Zedillo: Aguas Blancas and Acteal. It was strongly suspected that top officers within Zedillo's cabinet (but not Zedillo himself) were involved,[who?] but none of them were ever indicted.

Political Career

In 2000 Zedillo recognized the electoral victory of opposition candidate Vicente Fox before midnight on election day, paving the way for what seemed an unlikely change of power. For this reason some PRI members consider him a traitor, despite an 11 points advantage for PAN, claiming that the election was too close to admit defeat so soon and that, in any event, the concession should have come from the PRI's candidate, Francisco Labastida, and not Zedillo.

Salinas claimed that president Zedillo made a mistake  by changing the economic policies held by his  administration. The crisis ended after a series of reforms  and actions led by Zedillo. US president Bill Clinton  granted a $50 billion loan to Mexico, which helped in  one of Zedillo's initiatives to rescue the banking system.

Economic Policy Source (WWW)

Top 5 songs playing at the time

At first Zedillo was regarded by many as a puppet­ president but any rumors of obedience to Salinas  finished when Raúl     Salinas    , the "inconvenient brother"  of the former president was convicted of murder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Zedillo_Ponce_de_León Loser – Beck Gin and Juice- Snoop Dogg Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana Vogue – Madonna I will always love you – whitney houston

PHOTO NAME

Vicente Fox Quesada

Presidential Period

2000-2006

Born

Guanajuato July 2, 1942 His father was José Luis Fox Pont, a Mexican citizen[4] and his mother Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was Basque from San Sebastian, Guipúzcoa, Spain. Fox's paternal grandfather was born as Joseph Louis Fuchs in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of German Catholic immigrants Louis Fuchs and Catherina Elisabetha Flach. The "Fox" surname was changed from the German "Fuchs" during the 1870s.[5] Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato. He moved to Mexico City to attend the Universidad Iberoamericana where he pursued a business degree until 1964, and he earned his diploma in Top Management Skills from the Harvard Business School in the United States. He didn't graduate from the Universidad Iberoamericana until early 2000's[6] In 1964, Fox went to work for the Coca-Cola Company where he started as a route supervisor, and he drove a delivery truck. He quickly rose in the company to become the supervisor of CocaCola's operations, and later in all of Latin America. As the President of Coca Cola , Fox helped Coca-Cola become Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing Coca-Cola's sales by almost 50%.[7] Vicente Fox married a receptionist at Coca-Cola, Lilian de la Concha. They adopted four children, Ana Cristina, Vicente, Paulina, and Rodrigo.[8] In 1990, after 20 years of marriage, Lilian filed for and was granted a divorce.[9] Vicente Fox married for the second time while in office as President. He married Marta María Sahagún Jiménez (until then his spokesperson) on July 2, 2001, the first anniversary of his presidential election and his 59th birthday. For both, this was their second marriage.

Early Life and Education

After retiring from Coca-Cola, Vicente 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 the president of the Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the León campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana, and of the Lux Institute.[10]

Political party

Political Career

Economic Policy Source (WWW) Top 5 songs playing at the time

National Action Party During the course of his campaign a presidential debate was organized. There was a disagreement between the three main contenders, Fox, Francisco Labastida of the PRI and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the PRD, and some of the arguments were broadcast on national television, notably the one on whether the debate should be held that same day or the following Friday.[11] For minutes, Fox kept repeating the word "Hoy" meaning "today", originating the famous phrase "hoy, hoy, hoy!". The other candidates decided to postpone the debate, but Fox used that day's airtime anyway. At first the action brought criticism to Fox, but it soon backfired against his opponents when Fox started using his new phrase to gain new supporters as he campaigned for a better future "today".On July 2, 2000, (Fox's 58th birthday) he won the presidential election with 43% (15,989,636 votes) of the popular vote, followed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Francisco Labastida with 36% (13,579,718 votes), and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) with 17% (6,256,780 votes). Vicente Fox declared victory that same night, a victory which was ratified by President Zedillo. Fox took office as president on December 1, 2000, marking the first time in Mexico's history that an incumbent government peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition. In Mexico, Fox's busy post-presidency has caused much criticism.