Presidential Readings
Culture is a top-down phenomenon and in Mexico if you want to understand the political culture you need to understand how the presidents have operated in Mexico’s dominant executive political climate.
There is no better way to familiarize yourself with Mexico’s political CEOs than to read Hank Heifetz’ erudite translation of Enrique Krause’s definitive analysis: “Mexico: Biography of Power” , which provides an in depth profile of each of Mexico’s leaders, from 1810 (Hidalgo) though 1996 (Zedillo), plus an extraordinary history of the country from inception to the start of the independence movement. “The concentration of power in the caudillo (leader) is as much a formative element of Mexican culture and politics as the historical legacy of the Aztec emperors, Cortez, the Spanish Crown, the Mother Church and the mixing of the Spanish and Indian population into a mestizo culture. Krauze shows how history becomes biography during the century of caudillos” and beyond (Amazon) A shame that the volume pubished in 1999 and republished in 2013 has not been updated to include the group beginning with Fox. At 898 pages, the Kindle edition is a sweet buy at $10.99.
“I prefer this excellent history of Mexico to other published histories for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was written by a leading Mexican intellectual, in Spanish. Here we have an insider's perspective, a history written by someone who not only knows it first hand, but actually FEELS it. You won't find that insightful, intuitive quality in the books written by Fehrenbach or Miller.
“In English translation, the quality of the language is superb. From the preface, through the first few chapters, you become aware of the author's prodigious analytical and rhetorical skills. He also commits to maintaining a relatively swift narrative, and the text never disintegrates into dry academia.
“The main body of the text concentrates on the lives of Mexico's many leaders from 1810 to 1994, but it would be wrong to suggest that this is the TOPIC of the book. Really, the book attempts to define what it means to be Mexican through the ambitions, successful or otherwise, of the people strong or lucky enough to lead the country. It covers all of Mexican history, roughly from conquest to modern times, but with relatively less emphasis on the Spanish colonial period. And though it isn't a feature topic in the content of the book, the author skillfully introduces us to the foundation of independent Mexico through the cultural, religious and economic history of New Spain.
“Here's an insightful history of Mexico that reads beautifully and entertains as well as instructs. While not exactly beach reading, I would highly recommend this book for people with more than a casual (tourist) interest in Mexican history.”
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In 2000, The New Press published Jorge Castaneja’s “Perpetuating Power: how Mexican presidents were chosen”
In six penetrating essays combined with interviews by Castañeda with each of the living Mexican ex-presidents, Perpetuating Power provides a remarkably candid account of the political machinery behind Mexican presidential politics and a view, startling to political outsiders, of how power really operates to the decision that the shirts like this are only the ones with the college seven (Amazon). No Kindle (!), 248pp paperback starts at $7.
Here, Castaneda (political science, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and New York Univ.) solves a puzzle that has baffled many political scientists. By examining the Byzantine workings of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which enjoyed uninterrupted supremacy until the recent election of Vicente Fox, he explains how the party selected presidents. Included are interviews with four living ex-presidents, as well as defeated candidates and other protagonists. This wealth of primary data lends weight to the book's analysis. The author observes that the one-party system was Mexico's solution to the tumult and sporadic violence that disrupted electoral politics from Independence in 1810 until the Revolution in 1910. While he admits that this system had shortcomings, he points out that Mexico has transferred power peacefully in recent decades and that the abuses visited on opponents of the government were mild by Latin American standards. An invaluable work for students of Mexican politics, this is recommended for academic collections. James R. Holmes, Fletcher Sch. of Law and Diplomacy, Belmont, MA
"Castañeda’s stunning new book has become an instant bestseller—150,000 copies sold in a mere two months—and seems destined to become the most important political book of the decade." —Foreign Policy
"Castañeda strikes a blow for a more open and democratic Mexico in the future." —The Washington Post Book World
"An unusually revealing explication of the inner workings of three decades of presidential succession." —The New York Times Book Review
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Vicente Fox was the first non-PRI president (elected in 2000) and after his term in 2007 he wrote “Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President” . “Traces the rise and career of the charismatic former president of Mexico, from his youth as the son of immigrants from the United States and Spain and his achievements as the youngest CEO in the history of Coca-Cola to his presidential efforts [not as successful as hoped for by his advocates] to reduce poverty, address corruption, and reform key social programs.” (Amazon)
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“Felipe Calderon” is a slim (112pp) biography in 2008 of the President who followed Fox. “As a schoolboy, Felipe Calderon told his teacher that he wanted to be the president of Mexico one day. In 2006, he achieved that goal, but it was in the midst of one of the nation's most turbulent political scandals. Calderon was born into a political family. His father was one of the founders of the National Action Party, or PAN. PAN struggled for years, as the young Calderon witnessed, to gain political momentum against the PRI, the party that dominated the political scene for decades. The highly controversial election of 2006 is just one part of the complex world of Mexican politics, on which Calderon is now trying to leave a positive imprint.” (Amazon). Kindle $23
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For a dose of Mexican presidential and political reality after those two saccharine bios, read “Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico: The Transition from Felipe Calderón to Enrique Peña Nieto” by Jonathan D. Rosen and Roberto Zepeda and worth its pricey 166[ pages Kindle at $41 (not $14) because of its solid analysis of the War on Drugs initiated by Calderon and changed (but without success) by his successor Pena Nieto ( do they both languish in unexplained wealth??)
The most comprehensive book on Mexico’s contemporary security challenges and possible policy available. A wealth of information simplified into a brilliantly written work of scholarship. A must read. (Hanna S. Kassab, Northern Michigan University)
Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking, and Violence is an excellent synthesis of the evaluation of organized crime related to drug trafficking and the war that President Calderón declared in 2006. The result was a significant increase in violence. Six years after the change in government Enrique Peña Nieto came to power and decided to try to change the strategy without success. The authors argue that within Mexico there are some states, in fact, that are failed states because the government’s efforts to dismantle the drug cartels were not successful. The book is an excellent analysis for better understanding 10 years in which Mexico has applied the strategy of the war on drugs. (Raúl Benitez-Manaut, Center for Research on North America (UNAM))
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Then in 2018 AMLO (Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) was elected President and published “A New Hope for Mexico: Saying No to Violence, Corruption and Trump’s Wall” available in English translation on Kindle for ten bucks. Frightened the death out of the well to do and conservative Mexicans, some of whom have bailed out of Mexico.
"López Obrador gets down to cases with table-heavy pieces showing how former presidents soak the system with fat pensions and protections, how net migration flows have operated in the last 50 years, and the like. A book of promises and projections that, now that López Obrador has proved victorious, becomes a checklist for action." ―Kirkus Reviews
“Exceptionally well written . . . An inherently interesting and ultimately inspiring contribution.” ―Midwest Book Review