Benito Juárez, in full Benito Pablo Juárez García, (born March 21, 1806, San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, Mexico - died July 18, 1872, Mexico City), national hero and president of Mexico (1861-72), who for three years (1864-67) fought against foreign occupation under the emperor Maximilian and who sought constitutional reforms to create a democratic federal republic.
In his lifetime he rose from an impoverished childhood in Oaxaca after his parents died when he was three years old and started his education when he was 12. In 1831 he received a law degree and won his first public office, a seat on the municipal council.
Impeccably honest, he never used public office for personal gain, and his modest way of life reflected his simple tastes, even after his marriage in 1843 to Margarita Maza, a Oaxacan woman 17 years his junior. Politics soon became his life’s work: he was a member of both the state and national legislatures, he became a judge in 1841, and he served as governor of his state, a post that brought him into national prominence.
During the French Intervention, Juarez and his vice-president (actually the head of the Mexican Supreme Court) Sebastain Lerdo de Tejada, fled into internal exile all along the northern border fleeing assassins and armies of the imperial forces seeking to capture or kill them. He survived to return triumphant to Mexico City and reestablished a democratic republic.
During exile, he was unable to console his wife who was in New Orleans even after two of his sons died while they were apart. Leaving the national territory would have meant surrendering the nation to Maximilian and his empire. Ultimately, he ordered the archduke's execution and the restoration of the Mexican nation.
For full biography, click on link: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benito-Juarez
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