José Sarney
| José Sarney | |
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31st President of Brazil
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| In office April 21, 1985 – March 15, 1990 |
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| Vice President | vacant |
| Preceded by | Tancredo Neves (formally) João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo (actual) |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Collor de Mello |
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| In office March 15 – April 21, 1985 |
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| President | vacant. Tancredo Neves was President-elect |
| Preceded by | Aureliano Chaves |
| Succeeded by | Itamar Franco |
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| In office 1995–1997 |
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| President | Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
| Preceded by | Humberto Lucena |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Carlos Magalhães |
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| In office 2003–2005 |
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| President | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva |
| Preceded by | Ramez Tebet |
| Succeeded by | Renan Calheiros |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2009 |
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| President | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva |
| Preceded by | Renan Calheiros |
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18th Governor of Maranhão
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| In office January 31, 1966 – March 15, 1971 |
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| Preceded by | Newton de Barros Belo |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Neiva de Santana |
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| Born | April 24, 1930 Pinheiro, Maranhão, Brazil |
| Political party | UDN (c. 1957-1965) ARENA (1965-1979) PDS (1979-1985) PFL (1985) PMDB (1985-present) |
| Spouse(s) | Marly Sarney |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa Sarney (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ʁibaˈmaʁ feˈʁejɾɐ di aɾaˈuʒu ˈkɔstɐ saʁˈnej]; born April 24, 1930, in Pinheiro, Maranhão) is a Brazilian writer and politician. He served as president of Brazil from March 15, 1985 to March 15, 1990.[1]
He was the son of Sarney de Araújo Costa and Kiola Ferreira de Araújo Costa. In 1965 he legally adopted the name José Sarney de Araújo Costa, usually shortened to José Sarney ([ʒoˈzɛ sahˈnej]), for electoral purposes, since he was known as "Zé do Sarney", as in "José, son of Sarney". Married with Marly Sarney, his sons are the congressman José Sarney Filho, the governor Roseana Sarney, and the businessman Fernando Sarney.
[edit] Political biography
Sarney started his political career as a federal deputy in the late 1950s. He was a member of the centre-right National Democratic Union (União Democrática Nacional—UDN), being aligned with the progressive wing of the party. He strongly supported so-called "Revolution of 1964", a military coup that overthrew President leftist João Goulart in 1964[2].
After the military coup, Sarney was a member of the ARENA, the political party of the military government and was elected as governor of the state of Maranhão in 1966, serving until 1971. He was then elected to the Brazilian Senate and became ARENA's president.
Sarney, however, had never been quite accepted by the military establishment, which tried to block his career. In 1979 ARENA changed its name to PDS, and Sarney remained the party's president. In 1984, the military rule was under pressure due to popular protests to reinstall direct elections for president (Diretas Já movement). PDS was divided, but launched Paulo Maluf as its candidate for the presidency in indirect elections. Sarney disagreed with this decision and left PDS to form the Liberal Front, which then allied with the PMDB.
As part of the deal, Sarney became Tancredo Neves' running mate on the opposition ticket. Neves won the election of January 15, 1985, but on the eve of taking the oath he became severely ill. Sarney assumed office as acting president until Neves died on April 21, then he formally became the first civilian president in 21 years.
His succession raised some question because, as Neves could not attend the inauguration ceremony on March 15, several politicians contended at the time that Sarney shouldn't have been inaugurated as Vice-President and allowed to assume the role of Acting President. Those politicians believed that, since Sarney had been elected Vice-President only virtue of the election of his running mate as President (each member of the Electoral College casted one vote only, for President, and the choice of President carried with it the automatic selection of the ticket's running mate as Vice-President) Sarney could only take office as Vice-President together with Neves. They argued that, in the event of the head of the presidential ticket not being able to assume office, the presidency should pass to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Ulysses Guimarães.[3] There was some partisanship in this line of thought, since both Neves and Guimarães were members of the same party, and Sarney was not; he had been a supporter of the Military, and only recently had joined the coalition to defeat the military's candidate in the electoral college. The challenge to Sarney's inauguration was short-lived, however, because in the early hours of inauguration day Guimarães himself stated that he believed that Sarney had the right to be inaugurated even without Neves.
Sarney and the president of Argentina Raúl Alfonsín started the process of the creation of a common market between the two nations in 1985. As first steps, they agreed to subsidize regional trade with a special currency for the purpose (the Gaucho (currency)). This agreement led to the formation of the Mercosul in 1991.
He had to face many problems; an enormous foreign debt, rampant inflation and corruption as well as completion of the transition to democracy. Sarney launched an economic plan to stabilize the economy, called "Plano Cruzado", successful at first, but the inflation became stronger than ever after a year. A new and democratic constitution was promulgated in 1988, and in the following year the first direct elections since 1960 were held.
Sarney left the presidency at the end of his term. He supported Fernando Henrique Cardoso as presidential candidate in 1994 and 1998, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2002. Since leaving the Presidency, he has been a senator for Amapá, being the President of the Senate of Brazil from 2003 to 2005. Presently, he is again the President of the Senate, a role he assumed on February 2, 2009.
As a writer, his best known novel is Os Marimbondos de Fogo. With this novel, he got the chance to become one of the Academia Brasileira de Letras members.
 President Sarney with Mario Soares, 35th President of Portugal, 1988 |
 From left: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Sarney, Nestor Kirchner and Raul Alfonsin |
 From right: Former President Sarney, Fernando Collor de Mello and Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
| Preceded by Michel Temer |
Brazilian presidential line of succession 3rd position |
Succeeded by Gilmar Ferreira Mendes |
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Newton de Barros Belo |
Governor of Maranhão 1966 – 1971 |
Succeeded by Pedro Neiva de Santana |
| Preceded by João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo |
President of Brazil 1985 – 1990 |
Succeeded by Fernando Collor de Mello |
[edit] References
- ^ "In Brazil, Scathing Criticism For the Departing President". The New York Times. 13 March 1990. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/13/world/in-brazil-scathing-criticism-for-the-departing-president.html. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ^ http://countrystudies.us/brazil/95.htm
- ^ http://countrystudies.us/brazil/95.htm
[edit] See also
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