Manuel de la Peña y Peña
Manuel de la Peña y Peña | |
|---|---|
Oil on canvas portrait of Peña y Peña, Museo Nacional de Historia. | |
| 18th President of Mexico | |
| In office 16 September – 13 November 1847 | |
| Preceded by | Antonio López de Santa Anna |
| Succeeded by | Pedro María de Anaya |
| In office 8 January – 3 June 1848 | |
| Preceded by | Pedro María de Anaya |
| Succeeded by | José Joaquín de Herrera |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 March 1789 Tacubaya, New Spain |
| Died | 2 January 1850 (aged 60) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Resting place | Panteón de Dolores |
| Political party | Conservative Party |
José Manuel de la Peña y Peña (10 March 1789 – 2 January 1850) was a Mexican lawyer and judge who served two non-consecutive, but closely following, terms as the president of Mexico during the Mexican American War. In contrast to many other nineteenth-century Mexican presidents, he never served in the military, instead coming from a distinguished legal background.
He was foreign minister and a member of the peace party whom under the presidency of José Joaquín de Herrera sought to avoid a war with the United States at a time of rising tensions. After hardliners overthrew Herrera and war broke out with disastrous consequences for Mexico, he was elected president twice to two non-consecutive terms in the final months of the war as peace negotiations were being made. Under his administration the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was negotiated and ratified.