Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón

Entered the Spanish army as a cadet (1810); rose to the rank of captain; pronounced for the Plan de Iguala (1821) and joined the army of Agustín de Iturbide; governor of Vera Cruz; governor of Yucatan; headed a revolt against the election of Manuel Gómez Pedraza (1828), declaring in favor of General Vicente Guerrero; governor and commander of Vera Cruz; gained much prestige when he fought against Spain's attempt to reconquer Mexico (1829); promoted to major-general (1829); revolted against Anastasio Bustamante (1832) and defeated him at Casas Blancas (12 Nov 1832); restored Gómez Pedraza to the presidency (1832); elected president by electoral college in 1833, but pleaded illness and withdrew to his country place, leaving Vice President Valentín Gómez Farías in charge; as Farías' policies proved unpopular, arrived to the capital to assume the presidency (16 May 1833); left office several times to suppress revolts against his government (2 Jun 1833 - 17 Jun 1833, 6 Jul 1833 - 27 Oct 1833); was granted leave of absence for health recovery (15 Dec 1833 - 23 Apr 1834); headed a coup to remove Gómez Farías and resumed presidency (24 Apr 1834); dissolved congress (31 May 1834) and assumed dictatorial powers (Congress reconvened 4 Jan 1835); tendered his resignation to the Congress (22 Jan 1835), which was declined by the Chamber of Deputies (27 Jan 1834); was granted leave of absence for health recovery and retired to his estate; Miguel Barragán was appointed interim president, as Santa Anna continued to control the government; led an army into Zacatecas to suppress a revolt (May 1834); named benemérito en grado heróico; took command of Mexican troops in the war against the separation of Texas; captured by the Texan troops (23 Apr 1836); signed two treaties with Texas, recognizing its independence (14 May 1836); released in February 1837; coldly received in Mexico and retired to his estate; regained his popularity by valiant defense of Vera Cruz against the French fleet (The Pastry War, 1838-1839); lost his leg in the battle; named provisional president to fill in for President Bustamante (18 Mar 1839), leading an army to suppress a rebellion in Tampico; pleaded illness and left the presidency (10 Jul 1839); retired to his estate; joined the insurrection of Generals Paredes and Valencia against Bustamante; called military and political leaders of Mexico for signing the Bases de Tacubaya (28 Sep 1841), which sanctioned his next presidency; appointed provisional president (9 Oct 1841) by a body composed of two representatives from each state; substituted on a number of occasions by interim presidents (Nicolás Bravo and Valentín Canalizo); elected constitutional president for the term beginning on 1 Feb 1844, but refused to enter the office (Valentín Canalizo elected interim president); assumed the presidency on 4 Jun 1844; obtained leave of absence for health treatment and transferred presidency to José Joaquín de Herrera (12 Sep 1844), who was in charge until Canalizo replaced him as interim president (21 Sep 1844); congressmen and military leaders announced the Santa Anna government deposed (17 Dec 1844); was arrested (15 Jan 1845) and imprisoned; amnestied (May 1845); sailed for Havana, Cuba; recalled to lead the war effort against the United States and returned on 16 Aug 1846; appointed commander-in-chief; elected president (Dec 1846), but departed for the north, leaving Vice President Gómez Farías in charge; attacked the American army under General Zachary Taylor near Buena Vista (22-23 Feb 1847), but retired with great losses; hearing of the overthrow of Gómez Farías, hastened to Mexico City and occupied the presidency on 21 Mar 1847; left General Pedro María de Anaya in charge and took command of the forces in the state of Vera Cruz; was attacked and totally defeated at Cerro Gordo on 17-18 Apr 1847; retreated to Mexico City to organize an army to defend the capital against the advancing American forces; Mexico City was occupied by the American army (14 Sep 1847); resigned the presidency; obtained permission to leave the country, sailing for Jamaica (1848); established himself in Turbaco, near Cartagena (1850); recalled, following the revolution of 1853; arrived in Vera Cruz (1 Apr 1853); took possession of the executive (20 Apr 1853); received from the Council of State the right to continue to exercise extraordinary powers for as long as he deemed necessary, title of Su Alteza Serenísima (His Most Serene Highness), and the power of nominating his successor (19 Nov 1853); rule soon became so despotic that revolutions began everywhere, the principal one being that of Ayutla, directed by General Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado; after a severe struggle and many defeats abandoned the capital (9 Aug 1855), and sailed for Havana, and thence to Cartagena; lived for some time in Venezuela and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; offered his services to the regency (1864); was allowed to land on condition of withdrawing from politics, but immediately published a manifesto, exciting disturbances in his favor; was ordered to leave the country; returned to St. Thomas; promoted to grand marshal of the empire by Emperor Maximilian, but rewarded the emperor by a conspiracy against him; fled to St. Thomas again in 1865; went to the United States (1866), proposed to raise an army to overthrow the empire, and even offered his services to President Benito Pablo Juárez García, but no response was made; chartered a steamer and appeared before Vera Cruz (1867) still occupied by the imperialists; was detained by the United States squadron of observation, and after the surrender of Vera Cruz (4 Jul 1867), was permitted to sail for New York; tried to effect a landing at Sisal, was captured by the blockading squadron, imprisoned at San Juan de Ulua, and sentenced by a court-martial to death; was pardoned under condition of leaving Mexico forever, and came to the United States, whence fostered a revolutionary movement in Jalapa (1870); after Juarez's death took advantage of the amnesty given by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, returning to Mexico, where he died.