Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna was the most dominant and mercurial figure of early Mexican history, serving as president eleven times between 1833 and 1855. A royalist officer who switched sides for independence, he rose to fame defeating a Spanish reconquest attempt at Tampico (1829). He led the Texan campaign that produced the Alamo (1836) and the decisive defeat at San Jacinto, losing Texas. In the Mexican-American War (1846-48) he commanded Mexican forces and presided over the catastrophic loss of half of Mexico's territory under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. He sold the Gadsden Purchase strip to the United States in 1853 for personal gain. Exiled multiple times, he epitomized the caudillo system: military strongmen who dominated Latin American politics by alternating coups with populist appeals.
- Lived: 1794 CE – 1876 CE
- Nationality: mexican
- Roles: general, head_of_state, military_leader
