Manuel de la Peña y Peña

Manuel de la Peña y Peña

Manuel de la Peña y Peña (born March 10, 1789 in Mexico City , † January 2, 1850 ibid) was a Mexican lawyer and interim and regular president of Mexico .

Manuel de la Peña y Peña was born on March 10, 1789 in Mexico City and practiced as a lawyer from December 16, 1812. In 1824 he gained a seat at the highest court in Mexico, the Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación . In 1843 he wrote a civil code. From August 14 to December 13, 1845 he was foreign and interior minister in the cabinet of President José Joaquín de Herreras . At the beginning of the Mexican-American War , de la Peña served as President of the Suprema Corte . On September 16, 1847 he became interim President of Mexico and tried to make peace with the United States in view of the hopeless situation (the north of the country was under enemy control, the ports were blocked and the capital was occupied). In November 1847 he was replaced by Pedro María Anaya at the provisional seat of government in Santiago de Querétaro . In January 1848 he replaced Anaya, this time as regular president. During his second presidency, he signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which ended the war but cost Mexico half of its territory. His presidency ended on June 3, 1848, when he turned over to José Joaquín de Herrera. The following year he became president of the Estado de Mexico . De la Peña died in Mexico City on January 2, 1850.