José Joaquín de Herrera

Last updated
José Joaquín de Herrera
Jose Joaquin de Herrera (Joaquin Ramirez).jpg
Portrait of José Joaquín de Herrera
14th President of Mexico
In office
12 September 1844 21 September 1844
Preceded by Antonio López de Santa Anna
Succeeded by Valentín Canalizo
In office
6 December 1844 30 December 1845
Preceded by Valentín Canalizo
Succeeded by Mariano Paredes
In office
3 June 1848 15 January 1851
Preceded by Manuel de la Peña y Peña
Succeeded by Mariano Arista
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
1 April 1827 30 April 1827
Preceded byManuel Crescencio Rejón
Succeeded byCarlos García y Bocanegra
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
for Veracruz
In office
1 January 1827 27 December 1828
5th Minister of War and Marine
In office
12 July 1823 11 March 1824
Preceded byJosé Ignacio García Illueca
Succeeded by Manuel de Mier y Terán
Member of the First Constituent Congress
for Veracruz
In office
24 February 1822 31 October 1822
Personal details
Born(1792-02-23)23 February 1792
Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Died10 February 1854(1854-02-10) (aged 61)
Tacubaya, Mexico
Spouse(s)Josefa Cortés

José Joaquín Antonio de Herrera (23 February 1792 – 10 February 1854), a moderate Mexican politician, served as president of Mexico three times (1844, 1844–45 and 1848–51), and as a general in the Mexican Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846-1848.

President of Mexico Head of state of the country of Mexico

The President of Mexico, officially known as the President of the United Mexican States, is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces. The current President is Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office on December 1, 2018.

Mexican Army land and air warfare branch of the Mexican Armed Forces


Mexican–American War Armed conflict between the United States of America and Mexico from 1846 to 1848

The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the Intervención estadounidense en México, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the Second Federal Republic of Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 American annexation of the Republic of Texas, not formally recognized by the Mexican government, disputing the Treaties of Velasco signed by the unstable Mexican caudillo President/General Antonio López de Santa Anna after the Texas Revolution a decade earlier. In 1845, newly elected U.S. President James K. Polk, who saw the annexation of Texas as the first step towards a further expansion of the United States, sent troops to the disputed area and a diplomatic mission to Mexico. After Mexican forces attacked American forces, Polk cited this in his request that Congress declare war.



Early military career

Herrera was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, but grew up in Perote, where his father was a postal administrator. He entered the royalist army in 1809, as a cadet in the Regiment of La Corona. By 1811, he was a captain. He fought the insurgents in Aculco, Guanajuato, Calderón, Acatlán, Veledero and other places. Later he was part of the Spanish expedition to retake Acapulco from the rebels, and he was given the military and civil command of the region.

Perote, Veracruz city in Veracruz, in Mexico

Perote is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It serves as the seat of government for the surrounding municipality of the same name, which borders on Las Vigas de Ramírez, Acajete, Xico and Tlalnelhuayocan, and the state of Puebla. It is on Federal Highway 140.

Aculco Town and municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Aculco de Espinoza is a town and the seat of the municipality called Aculco in Mexico State.

Guanajuato State of Mexico

Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, are the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato. The largest city in the state is León.

He retired from the army in 1820 as a lieutenant colonel and moved back to Perote. There he opened a shop. In retirement, he established contacts with some of the insurgent leaders, among them Guadalupe Victoria. Shortly after the Plan de Iguala was proclaimed, a contingent of infantry moving from Veracruz to Puebla declared in favor of Agustín de Iturbide. The officers offered command to Lieutenant Colonel Herrera. He accepted and added the garrison of the Fort of San Carlos. This force marched to Orizaba, then in command of the royalists under Lieutenant Colonel Antonio López de Santa Anna. These forces also joined the Plan de Iguala.

Guadalupe Victoria first president of Mexico


Agustín de Iturbide Mexican army general and politician, emperor of Mexico


Orizaba Municipality and town in Veracruz, Mexico

Orizaba is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a 2005 census population of 117,273 and is almost coextensive with its small municipality, with only a few small areas outside the city. The municipality's population was 117,289 and it has an area of 27.97 km².

At the time of the entrance of the Ejército Trigarante into Mexico City in 1821, Herrera was a brigadier general. However, he distanced himself from Iturbide when the latter declared himself emperor, and was arrested for conspiracy. He was freed and took part in the revolution that led to Iturbide's fall in 1823. In the new government, he received the portfolio of war (1823–24). He improved the arms of the infantry and ordered a new model saddle for the cavalry. He again held the post of minister of war in 1833 (under Santa Anna).

Army of the Three Guarantees

At the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the Army of the Three Guarantees was the name given to the army after the unification of the Spanish troops led by Agustín de Iturbide and the Mexican insurgent troops of Vicente Guerrero, consolidating Mexico's independence from Spain. The decree creating this army appeared in the Plan de Iguala, which stated the three guarantees which it was meant to defend: religion, independence, and unity. Mexico was to be a Catholic empire, independent from Spain, and united against its enemies.

Mexico City Capital in Mexico


He held many other military positions. He was consistently loyal to the legally constituted authorities and opposed to the absolutism and arbitrariness of Santa Anna's administrations. He was never an ally of Santa Anna.

First and second terms as president

In 1844, he was president of the Council of State when General Valentín Canalizo was named interim president to replace Santa Anna. Canalizo, however, was not in the capital (he was in San Luis Potosí), and Herrera was named as a substitute for the substitute, pending Canalizo's arrival in Mexico City. He served from 12 September 1844 to 21 September 1844, but he was president in name only. He officiated at the Independence Day celebrations.

Valentín Canalizo President of Mexico

José Valentín Raimundo Canalizo Bocadillo, known as General Valentín Canalizo, son of Vicente Canalizo and María Josefa Bocadillo and baptized on 16 February 1795 at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Monterrey, was a Mexican President, state governor, city mayor, army general, defense minister and conservative politician. He is as yet the only Mexican President from the city of Monterrey. He was a supporter of a centralist national government, and a confidante of President of Mexico General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Canalizo was President of Mexico two times, for a total of about one year in 1843 and 1844, during the complex Mexican historical times after the one decade-long Mexican War of Independence and before the Mexican–American War. Valentín Canalizo had previously been the Mayor of Mexico City, after being Governor of Puebla state, and years before, Mayor of the city of Cuernavaca.

San Luis Potosí State of Mexico

San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí City.

He turned over the office to Canalizo and retired, but on the fall of Santa Anna, he was elected by the Senate to be interim president. He held the presidency from 7 December 1844 to 30 December 1845. He named both federalists and centralists to important positions.

During this term, the Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States. The Mexican Senate broke relations with the United States on 28 March 1845 and gave Herrera authority to raise troops and prepare for war. Herrera preferred peaceful negotiations. When he did not go to war, followers of Santa Anna rioted on 7 July 1845. Herrera and three members of his cabinet were seized by rebellious soldiers. Nevertheless, Herrera was able to impose his authority, and was freed. He won the subsequent elections, becoming constitutional president on 15 September 1845.



The United States, on the basis of the Republic of Texas's prior claims, now claimed parts of Mexico that were not in the Mexican entity of Texas, i.e. parts of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Nuevo México across the Rio Grande. When the United States sent troops to this disputed territory, a detachment was captured by the Mexican army (29 March 1846). On 13 May 1846, the U.S. Congress declared that a state of war existed with Mexico.

Herrera, with much difficulty, was able to assemble a force of 6,000 men. This was put under the command of General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga and sent to the north to fight the Americans. Paredes got as far as San Luis Potosí, but instead of marching north against the invaders, he turned back to the capital in December and overthrew President Herrera.

Mexican-American War

In the Mexican–American War, Herrera replaced Antonio López de Santa Anna as commander of the army, following the Battle of Huamantla (9 October 1847). Three days after Huamantla, U.S. General Joseph Lane fought his way through Herrera's troops into Puebla and raised the Mexican siege of the city.

Third term as president

On 30 May 1848, after the end of the Mexican–American War, Herrera was again elected to the presidency, but he declined the office. A commission from Congress visited him, begging him to accept the presidency, arguing that civil war would result if he declined. He did accept, and since Mexico City was still in the hands of the United States, he established his government in Mixcoac on 3 June 1848. He served until 15 January 1851.

He faced many problems during this term. The country was in a miserable condition, with bandits controlling the highways. There was a cholera epidemic and there were Indigenous uprisings in Misantla and Yucatán (the Caste War). Mariano Paredes led an armed uprising against the peace treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In 1849, Leonardo Márquez revolted in favor of Santa Anna, claiming that the latter's resignation was invalid because Congress had not been in session.

The popular politician Juan de Dios Cañedo was murdered, and the followers of Santa Anna blamed Herrera, claiming that Dios Cañedo had been in possession of secret documents showing that he had been sent to the United States in 1844 to negotiate a cash settlement for the loss of Texas. The Texas charge was not denied, and may have been true.

President Herrera gave a concession for construction of the Mexico City-Veracruz railway, the first in Mexico, and another for a telegraph line between Mexico City and Puebla.

Herrera turned over the office to General Mariano Arista on 15 January 1851 and retired to private life. Evidence of his honorable character is provided by the following account: the day he resigned the presidency, he was forced to pawn a jewel to alleviate his economic situation. President Arista named him director of the Monte de Piedad (national pawnshop), a position which he held until 1853. He died on 10 February 1854 in his modest house in Tacubaya. He was buried without pomp in the cemetery of San Fernando.

See also

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    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Antonio López de Santa Anna
    President of Mexico
    12–21 September 1844
    Succeeded by
    Valentín Canalizo
    Preceded by
    Valentín Canalizo
    President of Mexico
    6 December 1844 - 30 December 1845
    Succeeded by
    Mariano Paredes
    Preceded by
    Manuel de la Peña y Peña
    President of Mexico
    3 June 1848 - 15 January 1851
    Succeeded by
    Mariano Arista