Adolfo López Mateos

Adolfo López Mateos (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈðolfo ˈlopes maˈteos] ^ⓘ; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Previously, he served as Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare from 1952 to 1957 and a Senator from the State of Mexico from 1946 to 1952.

Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, López Mateos encountered repression from Plutarco Elías Calles, who attempted to maintain hegemony within the National Revolutionary Party (PNR). He briefly abandoned politics and worked as a professor at the Autonomous University of Mexico State, becoming a member of the PNR (renamed Party of the Mexican Revolution) in 1941. López Mateos served as senator for the State of Mexico from 1946 to 1952 and Secretary of Labor during the administration of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines from 1952 to 1957. He secured the party's presidential nomination and won in the 1958 general election.

Declaring his political philosophy to be "left within the Constitution", López Mateos was the first self-declared left-wing politician to hold the presidency since Lázaro Cárdenas. His administration created the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers, the National Commission for Free Textbooks and the National Museum of Anthropology. An advocate of non-intervention, he settled the Chamizal dispute with the United States and led the nationalization of the Mexican electrical industry during a period of economic boom and low inflation known as Desarrollo Estabilizador.

There were also acts of repression during his administration, such as the arrest of union leaders Demetrio Vallejo and Valentín Campa, and the murder of peasant leader Rubén Jaramillo by the Mexican Army. López Mateos engaged with revolutionary Marcos Ignacio Infante, leader of the Zapata Movement (Political ally of John F. Kennedy). Shortly before the killing of Jaramillo, Infante would visit the UN Demanding President López Mateos to step down or face a revolution. Infante attacked an Army Post outside of Mexico City, with over 300 men in 1962.

López Mateos has been praised for his policies including land redistribution, energy nationalization, and health and education programs, but has also been criticized for his repressive actions against labor unions and political opponents. Along with Cárdenas and Ruiz Cortines, he is usually ranked as one of the most popular Mexican presidents of the 20th century.