Pedro Lascuráin

Pedro José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María Lascuráin Paredes (8 May 1856 – 21 July 1952) was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 38th president of Mexico for 45 minutes on 19 February 1913, the shortest presidency in history. The grandson of Mariano Paredes, the 15th president of Mexico, Lascuráin previously served as Mexico's foreign secretary for two terms and was the director of a small law school in Mexico City for 16 years.

Born to a wealthy family in Mexico City, Lascuráin studied law at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria and became a successful lawyer. He held numerous positions in the city's government. During the Mexican Revolution, he became the secretary of foreign affairs in the government of President Francisco I. Madero. In 1913, a coup known as the Ten Tragic Days ousted Madero and Vice President José María Pino Suárez, and Lascuráin became president. His government lasted for less than an hour, during which he appointed the coup's leader, Victoriano Huerta, to the role of foreign secretary. He promptly resigned, being succeeded by Huerta.

After his brief presidency, Lascuráin retired from politics and continued his legal career. He served as the director of the Escuela Libre de Derecho. He died at the age of 96 in Mexico City, today being most well-known for the brevity of his administration.

Early life Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga, Lascuráin's grandfather and one-time president of Mexico.

Pedro José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María Lascuráin Paredes was born on 12 May 1856 in the Rancho de la Romita in Mexico City. His father, Francisco Lascuráin é Icaza, was a wealthy merchant originally from Veracruz who moved to Mexico City to marry Lascuráin's mother, and his maternal grandmother was Josefa "Pepita" Cortés. His paternal grandparents were Pedro Lascuráin and Dolores de Icaza y Jiménez del Arenal.

Lascuráin was the fourth of his parents' seven children. His elder siblings were Francisco, María de los Angeles, and José, while his younger siblings were María de los Dolores, María, and Ignacio. Francisco, José, and Ignacio all died in infancy.

Beginning in 1902, Lascuráin served as a syndic for the ayuntamiento of Mexico City. In between the two terms, he again was the mayor of Mexico City. As foreign secretary, he had to deal with the demands of Henry Lane Wilson, the United States ambassador to Mexico.

Presidency

On 9 February 1913, a coup d'état to overthrow Madero, known as the Ten Tragic Days , began. By the 18th, the pro-Madero general Victoriano Huerta switched sides and joined the coup, capturing Madero and part of his cabinet. The president and vice president signed their resignations the following day. Lascuráin was one of the people who convinced Madero to resign the presidency while he was being held prisoner in the National Palace and claimed that his life was in danger if he refused.

Under the 1857 Constitution of Mexico, the vice president, the attorney general, the foreign secretary, and the interior secretary stood in line to the presidency. As well as Madero, Huerta had ousted vice president José María Pino Suárez and attorney general Adolfo Valles Baca. To give the coup d'état some appearance of legality, he had Lascuráin assume the presidency, who would then appoint him as his interior secretary, making Huerta next in line to the presidency, and then resign.

The presidency thus passed to Huerta. As a consequence, Lascuráin was president for less than an hour; sources quote figures ranging from 15 to 56 minutes. (The duration most often cited for Lascuráin's presidency is 45 minutes.) Other timespans have been given, including 25 minutes The time of day of his presidency is also somewhat disputed. Some sources say his presidency last from 5:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., His wife had died over a year earlier, on 20 June 1951. Playwright wrote a play in 2005 about Lascuráin, titled Lascuráin o la brevedad del poder.