Manuel González Flores

Manuel del Refugio González Flores was born on June 18, 1833, in the hacienda of El Moquete in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He pursued an early military career and fought in the Mexican-American War as a teenager before serving on the conservative side during the War of the Reform from 1858 to 1861.

He shifted allegiance during the French intervention and joined the liberal forces of Porfirio Díaz, fighting at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, and losing his right arm at the Battle of Tecoac in 1876, the engagement that brought Díaz to power. He served as Díaz's Secretary of War from 1878 to 1879.

He won the presidency of Mexico for the term running December 1, 1880, to November 30, 1884, taking office because the constitution then barred consecutive presidential terms and Díaz needed a placeholder. His administration oversaw the construction of more than 5,000 kilometers of railway, the founding of the Banco Nacional de México in 1884, and the introduction of the nickel coinage that briefly replaced silver fractional currency.

His term ended in financial scandal as the nickel reform sparked riots and the public debt ballooned, and Díaz returned to the presidency in 1884. He served afterward as governor of Guanajuato from 1885 until his death in Chapingo on May 8, 1893.

The name Manuel is the Spanish form of Emmanuel, from the Hebrew Immanu'el meaning God is with us. He carried the name through the Mexican presidential palace, and it remains one of the most enduring traditional choices for Mexican sons.