Presidency of Washington Luís

Washington Luís' tenure as the 13th president of Brazil on 15 November 1926, after he won the 1926 presidential election, and ended on 24 October 1930, when he was deposed by the military during the Revolution of 1930. Following the troubled presidency of Artur Bernardes, Washington Luís still had to deal with the tenentist movement, with the end of the Prestes Column, which had lasted since 1925, being a significant development.

His presidency was marked by the creation of the first Infant Code in the country, the creation of the current Federal Highway Police, the construction of the first highway that connected Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo, and also the first paved highway in Brazil, as highway transport played a fundamental role in his government, and the creation of a fund for highway construction. As he had done as mayor of São Paulo and later president (governor) of the homonymous state, Washington Luís published old documents from the Brazil's National Archives, thus preserving many texts from the country's history, which were at risk of being destroyed by insects. During his term, Brazil's GDP grew at an average of 5.1% per year.

Washington Luís' appointment of Júlio Prestes, then president of São Paulo, as his successor, broke with the milk coffee policy and contributed to the outbreak of the Revolution of 1930, which resulted in the end of the First Brazilian Republic and the beginning of the Vargas Era.