López Mateos, Adolfo

▪ president of Mexico

born May 26, 1910, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mex.

died Sept. 22, 1969, Mexico City

      Mexican president (1958–64) who expanded industrial development and agrarian reform.

      A librarian and teacher of Spanish-American literature, López began his public career with an assignment to the UN. He was elected federal senator (1946–52) and later appointed secretary-general of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). As minister of labour, he was skilled in mediating disputes and helped draft the U.S.–Mexico migrant-labour treaty. Though accusations of corruption clouded his six-year term as president, López increased industrialization, extended agrarian reform laws, stepped up state intervention in the economy, embarked upon major public health programs, and initiated a literacy campaign. Shortly after his presidential term ended, he suffered a severe stroke and lay in a coma until his death.

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