Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna was president or effective ruler of Mexico eleven times, lost half its territory, and held a state funeral for his own leg. Born in Xalapa in 1794, he was a royalist officer who changed sides in 1821, and then changed sides on almost every subsequent question: for federalism and then against it, for the church and then against it, for and against every constitution Mexico produced. He crushed a Spanish reconquest attempt at Tampico in 1829 and became a national hero. He abolished the federal constitution in 1835 and marched north to suppress the Texan revolt it had provoked. He took the Alamo in March 1836 after thirteen days and executed the survivors, and executed some 350 prisoners at Goliad — and was then surprised at his siesta at San Jacinto and captured, signing away Texas to save his life. He lost his leg to French grapeshot at Veracruz in 1838, had it buried with military honours in Mexico City, and was recalled to power on the strength of it. The war with the United States from 1846 was his final ruin. He negotiated with Washington to be returned from exile in exchange for a settlement, took command instead, and lost at Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec. Mexico ceded roughly half its territory in 1848. He returned once more in 1853, styled himself Most Serene Highness, and sold the Mesilla valley to pay for it. He died in poverty in Mexico City in 1876. Mexicans have generally judged him not as a traitor but as a man whose vanity happened to coincide with the country's weakest moment.
- Lived: 1794 CE – 1876 CE
- Nationality: Mexican
- Roles: general, head_of_state, military_leader
