Background
Antonio López de Santa Anna was born on 21 February 1794 in Jalapa.
politician president statesman
Antonio López de Santa Anna was born on 21 February 1794 in Jalapa.
Became a cadet at age 16. In 1823 he commanded troops that helped oust Agustín de Iturbide as self-proclaimed emperor of Mexico. Elected president of Mexico in 1833, Santa Anna remained at his hacienda and allowed his vice president, Valentín Gómez Farias, to function as chief executive. When Gómez established a reform program in 1834, Santa Anna took over and canceled the program.
Serving as an unelected dictator in 1854-1855, again he was ousted. In 1863 he went into exile in Nassau, returning to Mexico in 1872.
Santa Anna frequently shifted his loyalty between federalists and centralists, contributing to Mexico’s political instability. In 1836 he proclaimed a centralized constitution to replace the federal one of 1824, thereby giving Texans an excuse to declare independence from Mexico in the name of states’ rights.