First Lady of Mexico

First Lady of Mexico

Flag of Mexico
Incumbent
Angélica Rivera

since December 1, 2012
Residence Los Pinos
Term length 6 years
Inaugural holder Virginia Salinas de Carranza
Formation 1917

First Lady of Mexico (Spanish: Primera Dama de Mexico, Primera Dama de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is the unofficial title of the wife of the President of Mexico. The post is highly ceremonial and in fact once caused severe controversy when it was thought that the First Lady took too much involvement in their husband's post. Angélica Rivera is the wife of current president Enrique Peña Nieto.

María Flores de Lascuráin, spouse of President Pedro Lascuráin, was Mexico and the world's briefest ever First Lady, since her husband served as president for less than an hour. However, since the title is not official in Mexico (unlike other Latin American countries), this fact is not actually acknowledged.

Role of the First Lady

The first lady is not an elected position, carries no official duties and brings no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president. There is a strict taboo against the First Lady holding outside employment while occupying the office. Usually the First Lady takes an important (ceremonial) post as head of the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) ("Integral Family Development"). However, this did not occur during the Fox administration when First Lady Marta Sahagún founded the national philanthropic organization Vamos México.

Two First Ladies have been active politicians: Martha Sahagún, who married Vicente Fox during his tenure (2002–2006), had been a party activist and candidate for Presidenta Municipal of Celaya on the PAN party ticket, and was briefly considered a contender for PAN's nomination to run for either the Jefe de Gobernación (Governor of the Federal District) or President in the 2006 election. Margarita Zavala, wife of Felipe Calderón, was a deputy from 2003 to 2006.

First Ladies of Mexico

This is a list of the post-Revolutionary era First Ladies of Mexico.

Portrait Name President Period
Virginia Salinas de Carranza Venustiano Carranza 1917–1920
Clara Oriol de De la Huerta Adolfo de la Huerta June 1, 1920 – November 30, 1920
María Tapia de Obregón Álvaro Obregón 1920-1924 (1928[1])
Natalia Chacón de Elías Plutarco Elías Calles 1924–1928
Carmen García de Portes Emilio Portes Gil 1928–1930
Josefina Ortiz Pascual Ortiz Rubio 1930–1932
Aída Sullivan de Rodríguez Abelardo L. Rodríguez 1932–1934
Amalia Solórzano de Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas 1934–1940
Soledad Orozco de Ávila Manuel Ávila Camacho 1940–1946
Beatriz Velasco de Alemán Miguel Alemán Valdés 1946–1952
María Dolores Izaguirre de Ruiz Adolfo Ruiz Cortines 1952–1958
Eva Sámano de López Adolfo López Mateos 1958–1964
Guadalupe Borja de Díaz Ordaz Gustavo Díaz Ordaz 1964–1970
María Esther Zuno de Echeverría Luis Echeverría 1970–1976
Carmen Romano de López Portillo José López Portillo 1976–1982
Paloma Cordero de De la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid 1982–1988
Cecilia Ocelli de Salinas Carlos Salinas de Gortari 1988–1994
Nilda Patricia Velasco de Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo 1994–2000
Marta Sahagún de Fox Vicente Fox July 2, 2001 – 2006[2]
Margarita Zavala Felipe Calderón 2006–2012
Angélica Rivera Enrique Peña Nieto 2012–Present

See also

References

Notes

  1. President Obregón was assassinated just after being reelected and declared President Elect, thus he was never sworn in, and therefore she did not assume the role.
  2. The post was vacant from December 1, 2000 to July 1, 2001 (since Vicente Fox was unmarried upon assumption of the presidency), until July 2, 2001 when he wed Marta Sahagún, who would then assume the role.
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