Campos Sales

Manoel Ferraz de Campos Sales (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [manuˈɛw feˈʁaz dʒi ˈkɐ̃pus ˈsalis]; 15 February 1841 – 28 June 1913) was a Brazilian lawyer, coffee farmer, and politician who served as the fourth president of Brazil from 1898 to 1902.

Early life and Political Career

He was born in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, descended from a rich family of coffee planters.¹ He graduated as a lawyer from the Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco, São Paulo, in 1863. He served as a provincial deputy of the state assembly of São Paulo three times, (1868-1869, 1882-1883, 1888-1889). He was a signatory of the Republican Manifesto of 1870, and one of the founders of the Paulista Republican Party (PRP). In 1888, he became president of the PRP Central Committee. After the Proclamation of the Republic, he was chosen by Deodoro da Fonseca to be Minister of justice (1889–1891), and senator and governor of São Paulo (1896–1897). In 1898, he was elected president of Brazil.¹

Presidency (1898-1902)

Austere financial reforms were adopted during his tenure under Minister of Finance Joaquim Murtinho.² Unpopular economic reforms such as introduction of paper money and the increase of taxes were introduced during his presidency. He obtained a funding loan from Britain, which suspended the interest charge from previous loans. He also created the political system known as the Governors Policy, in which politics would be controlled by dominated by smaller political groups in each states, and created the Verification of Powers, a commission which had authority to supervise elections and ensure a favourable environment for the election of pro-government candidates. He created the (now the ) which was mainly focused on the creation of vaccines against the bubonic plague. During his trip to Argentina from October 1900 to November 1900, his vice president, , assumed the duty of president.