Vicente Fox Quesada (born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. He was the first president elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1911, ending 71 years of uninterrupted rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Early Life and Education
Fox was born in Mexico City, the second of nine children. His father, José Luis Fox Pont, was a Mexican-born businessman of German-American descent; his mother, Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was a Spanish Basque immigrant. The family surname was originally Fuchs but was anglicized to "Fox." He spent his childhood on the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincón, Guanajuato, and attended Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where he learned English. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Universidad Iberoamericana in 1964 and later received a certificate in management skills from Harvard Business School in 1974.
Business Career
Fox was hired by the Coca-Cola Company in 1964 as a route supervisor and delivery truck driver. Over nine years, he rose to become President and Chief Executive of Coca-Cola Mexico, a position he held for six years. Under his leadership, Coca-Cola became Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing sales by nearly 50%. He declined an offer to lead Coca-Cola's Latin American operations and resigned from the company in 1979.
Early Political Career
Fox joined the National Action Party (PAN) on 1 March 1988 with the support of Manuel Clouthier. That same year, he was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies representing Guanajuato's third district. In 1991, he ran for governor of Guanajuato but lost a disputed election to the PRI candidate. He ran again in 1995 and was elected governor with over 58% of the vote, serving from 1995 to 1999.
Presidency (2000–2006)
Fox won the presidential election on 2 July 2000 with 43% of the popular vote, defeating PRI candidate Francisco Labastida (36%) and PRD candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (17%). He took office on 1 December 2000.
Domestic Policy
Fox continued the neoliberal economic policies of his PRI predecessors. His administration implemented Seguro Popular, a public health insurance program that covered approximately 55 million independent workers. The poverty rate declined from 43.7% in 2000 to 35.6% in 2006. However, his administration was criticized for failing to implement significant structural reforms, and only 1.4 million formal-sector jobs were created during his term.
Foreign Policy
Fox pursued strong relations with the United States under President George W. Bush. He supported the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which led to diplomatic conflicts with Venezuela and Bolivia. A notable diplomatic incident occurred in 2002 when Fox suggested Cuban President Fidel Castro leave a UN conference after a meal, a conversation Castro secretly recorded and made public, damaging Fox's reputation.
Controversies
Fox's presidency was marked by several controversies, including:
- The murder of human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa in 2001
- A failed attempt to remove Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador from office (the "desafuero" process)
- Civil unrest in Oaxaca and the San Salvador Atenco riots, where the Inter-American Court of Human Rights later found human rights violations
- Comments in 2005 about African Americans that were widely condemned as racist
- The controversial 2006 presidential election, where PAN candidate Felipe Calderón won by a narrow margin over López Obrador, who alleged fraud
Post-Presidency
After leaving office, Fox returned to Guanajuato and established the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum (Centro Fox). He has been an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, a proponent of drug legalization, and co-president of the Centrist Democrat International. He was expelled from the PAN in 2013 after endorsing PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto in the 2012 election but rejoined the party in 2021.
Personal Life
Fox married Lilian de la Concha in 1969; they had four children and divorced in 1990. He married Marta María Sahagún Jiménez, his former spokesperson, on 2 July 2001. In August 2021, Fox and his wife were hospitalized after contracting COVID-19.
