Anastasio Bustamante

Anastasio Bustamante
Portrait of Bustamante, 1830-32
4th President of Mexico
In office 1 January 1830 – 13 August 1832
Vice President	Himself
Preceded by	José María Bocanegra
Succeeded by	Melchor Múzquiz
In office 19 April 1837 – 20 March 1839
Preceded by	José Justo Corro
Succeeded by	Antonio López de Santa Anna
In office 19 July 1839 – 22 September 1841
Preceded by	Nicolás Bravo
Succeeded by	Francisco Javier Echeverría
2nd Vice President of Mexico
In office 11 June 1829 – 23 December 1832
President	Vicente Guerrero José María Bocanegra Executive Trimuvate (of Pedro Vélez, Lucas Alaman, and Luis Quintanar) Himself Melchor Múzquiz
Preceded by	Nicolás Bravo
Succeeded by	Valentín Gómez Farías
Personal details
Born	Trinidad Anastasio de Sales Ruiz Bustamante y Oseguera (1780-07-27)27 July 1780 Jiquilpan, New Spain
Died	6 February 1853(1853-02-06) (aged 72) San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Political party	Conservative
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Trinidad Anastasio de Sales Ruiz Bustamante y Oseguera (Spanish pronunciation: [anasˈtasjo βustaˈmante]; 27 July 1780 – 6 February 1853) was a Mexican physician, general, and politician who served as the 4th President of Mexico three times from 1830 to 1832, 1837 to 1839, and 1839 to 1841. He also served as the 2nd Vice President of Mexico from 1829 to 1832 under Presidents Vicente Guerrero, José María Bocanegra, himself, and Melchor Múzquiz. He participated in the Mexican War of Independence initially as a royalist before siding with Agustín de Iturbide and supporting the Plan of Iguala.

Bustamante was a member of the Provisional Government Junta, the first governing body of Mexico. After the fall of the First Mexican Empire, his support for Emperor Iturbide was pardoned by President Guadalupe Victoria. The controversial 1828 general election sparked riots forcing the results to be nullified, as a result, Congress named him vice president while the liberal Vicente Guerrero was named president. Bustamante's command of a military reserve during the Barradas Expedition in 1829 allowed him to launch a coup d'état ousting Guerrero.

During his first term as president, he expelled U.S. Minister Joel Roberts Poinsett, issued a law prohibiting American immigration to Texas, and produced a budget surplus. His leading minister during this time was the conservative intellectual Lucas Alamán. Opponents of his regime proclaimed the Plan of Veracruz in 1832, leading to almost a year of civil war, ultimately forcing Bustamante into exile.

During his exile, the First Republic collapsed and was replaced by Santa Anna with the Centralist Republic of Mexico. Santa Anna's fall from power during the Texas Revolution in 1836 gave Bustamante the chance to return to Mexico and smoothly reassume the presidency in early 1837. Refusal to compensate French losses in Mexico resulted in the disastrous Pastry War in late 1838. Bustamante briefly stepped down in 1839 to suppress a rebellion led by José de Urrea. Relations with the United States were restored and treaties signed with European powers. Rebellions in favor of restoring the federal system and an ongoing financial crisis was leading to unrest all over the nation. The state of Yucatán broke away in 1839, and in 1840 Bustamante himself was taken hostage in the capital by federalist rebels who were ultimately defeated. A conservative revolt led by Mariano Paredes ultimately forced him into a second exile in 1841. Bustamante returned in 1845 and participated in the Mexican–American War. He spent his last years in San Miguel de Allende where he died in 1853.