This Day In Latino History

On this day in 2000, Vicente Fox Quesada became the first presidential candidate of Mexico in 71 years to defeat the Institutional Revolutionary Party (or PRI.) And on his birthday, too. Yes, on this day in 1942, Vicente Fox was born in Mexico City, Mexico. And, it’s also his wedding anniversary to his second wife, Marta Sahagún. This guy really likes July 2.

Fox, whose paternal grandfather was American, was raised on the family ranch in Guanajuato where he stayed until he moved to Mexico City in 1964 to study business at the Universidad Iberoamericana. He wouldn’t receive his bachelor’s degree until the early 2000’s, but he did earn a Top Management Skills diploma from Harvard Business School in the interim. Upon his return to Mexico, he went to work for the Coca Cola company where he drove a delivery truck, eventually rising to the rank of President and helping to make Coke the number one selling soft drink in Mexico. After retiring from Coca Cola in the late 80’s, he began a political career in Guanajuato where he eventually served on the federal Chamber of Deputies and as governor of the state.

Fox announced his candidacy for President in January of 1998 with the National Action Party (PAN), a conservative group opposed to the ruling PRI. His main voting block were the mestizo and criolla population of Mexico–the poor people. Fox has said in interviews that his time growing up on the ranch had provided him with friends who were only different from him by luck of birth. His style of dress–boots and jeans–made him seem like a common Mexican. On July 2, 2000, (his 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). The day he won, all eyes were on Mexico and he received calls from leaders everywhere, including President Bill Clinton, congratulating him on making history.

After the publication of an interview with pictures of Fox’s ranch in Mexican fresa rag Quién, criticism that Fox’s wealth increased during his administration spiked. Later into 2007 accusations formalized into a congressional investigation, but no results have been produced from the investigation.