Career As vice president, he succeeded upon the death of Prospero Fernández in 1885 and was elected to a full term in his own right in April 1886.
Achievements Soto retained Education Minister Mauro Fernández, who issued the landmark General Law of Education in 1886. Costa Rica’s commitment to free, compulsory, secular education was fixed during Soto's tenure. Soto also established the Liceo de Costa Rica in 1887. However, he and Minister Fernández closed the University of Santo Tomás as elitist and under control of the Jesuits, which left the Law School as the only institution of higher learning in Costa Rica until 1940.The Liberals established absolute separation of church and state. They were also paternalistic. Soto tried to hand-pick his successor, but amid a popular outcry against his meddling in the election of 1890, he finally allowed José Joaquín Rodríguez, his political opponent, to win the election.