Comonfort, Ignacio

Related Category: Mexican History: Biographies

(ēgnä´syō kōmōnfôrt´), 1812–63, Mexican general and president (1855–58). He was one of the leaders in the Revolution of Ayutla, which in 1855 overthrew Santa Anna and installed Juan Álvarez in the presidency. Comonfort became acting president upon the resignation of Álvarez; with his cabinet, particularly Benito Juárez and Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, he continued the anticlerical liberal program and embodied it in the constitution of 1857. In Dec., 1857, Comonfort, elected under the new constitution, took office as president. The reform program created a furor and awoke rebellion. Comonfort, a half-hearted liberal, attempted to make his position more moderate and was deserted by the liberals. He allowed the conservatives to seize power, then turned against them. Unsupported by either party and opposed by public opinion, he resigned and fled (Jan., 1858) to the United States. He returned to fight against the French invaders and was killed in battle.