Madero, Francisco Indalecio (1873–1913)

Mexican liberal politician, president 1911–13. He took over the presidency from Porfirio Díaz after his resignation following political unrest. However, internal divisions and the continuing civil war paralysed the government. In February 1913, Victoriano Huerta, the commander of the government forces, plotted with rebels in Mexico City and assassinated Madero's brother. He then imprisoned Madero on charges of treason, and usurped power. Madero was murdered on 22 February 1923, after he had allegedly sought to escape.

Díaz imprisoned Madero in June 1910 and was re-elected as president, but in November 1910, on his release, Madero fled to Texas and, in the Plan of San Luis Potosi, called for a revolutionary uprising against Díaz. He returned to Mexico in February 1911 and attracted armed support from rebels in the north, including Francisco Villa. On 9 May 1911 the rebels' capture of Ciudad Juárez severely shook the government's self-confidence and, with rebels also active in the south, under the leadership of Emiliano Zapata, President Díaz resigned on 25 May 1911. Madero was elected as his successor and assumed office in November 1911.

Born in Coahuila state, into an influential land-owning family, he studied economics in France and agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and returned to Mexico to put into practice this new knowledge. Influenced by theosophy and spiritism, he championed democracy and social reform, setting up welfare institutions to improve the quality of life of the labourers on his family estates. In 1908 he published La sucesión presidencial en 1910/The Presidential Succession in 1910, which was critical of the dictatorial regime of Porfirio Díaz. In 1910, as the Anti-Re-electionist Party's presidential candidate, Madero campaigned for a more pluralist political system.