Background
José Joaquín Prieto was born on 20 August 1786 in Concepción.
José Joaquín Prieto was born on 20 August 1786 in Concepción.
He became a cavalry lieutenant in 1805, and with the independence movement he took part in military campaigns in both Chile and Argentina. By 1817 he was commander-in-chief in Santiago and in 1822 was named field marshal.
Prieto was also active in politics. He was twice governor of Concepcion Province. In 1823 he was elected deputy in the national Congress, serving there during most of the rest of the 1820s.
President Prieto was overwhelmingly reelected in 1836. In the following year, Chile became involved in a war with the Peru-Bolivia Confederation, one result of which was the murder of Diego Portales as the consequence of a plot in which enemy agents were probably involved.
General Manuel Bulnes Prieto. Upon leaving the presidency, Joaquin Prieto became a member of the Council of State. He also was named commander of the national military forces in the port city of Valparaiso. In 1843 he was elected senator.
Liberal governments controlled Chile during the 1820s. In the 1828 election, all factions accepted Francisco Antonio Pinto Diaz as president, but there was a contest for the vice presidency. One candidate was Joaquin Prieto, who was aligned with the conservative forces as was Francisco Ruiz Tagle. When no candidate received the required number of votes and the Liberal-controlled Congress chose the third nominee, Joaquin Vicuna, a Liberal, the result was a civil war. The military leader of the insurgents was Joaquin Prieto, who gained a decisive victory over Liberal forces in April 1830 in the Battle of Lircay. Elected president the following year, Prieto took office in September 1831.
During much of the Prieto administration, its predominant figure was Diego Portales Palazuelos, who had exercised a virtual dictatorship between the Battle of Lircay and the inauguration of President Prieto. Prieto summoned a constitutional congress. It drew up the Constitution of 1833, which provided for a very strong presidency, and a highly centralized national government. The Prieto regime had a strongly authoritarian tendency.
During the last years of the Prieto regime, its authoritarian tone relaxed somewhat. Prieto turned over power to an elected successor.