Most democracies have laws that are based upon a written constitution, much like the one that is a part of Mexican law today. Written in 1917, the Mexican Constitution was enacted by President Venustiano Carranza, and the man is still considered one of the 'Big Four' leaders of the Mexican Revolution. Carranza took office in 1915 but was assassinated near the end of his presidential term. Unfortunately, like other men in preceding years, holding the highest office in the country was a death sentence. Carranza, to his credit, has created a lasting positive legacy for Mexico.
Carranza's path to the presidential office began in 1913, when General Victoriano Huerta assassinated the president, Francisco Madero, and implanted himself as dictator. Venustiano was the Governor of Coahuila at the time, but had been privy to a great deal of the political events which had led to the Mexican Revolution's start three years before and he became convinced that he was the right man to bring proper reform to Mexico and end the conflict. With this goal in mind, he tried to create understanding with Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and Alvaro Obregon, who were all rebel leaders at the time; together the four men formed a massive coalition called the Constitutional Army, who succeeded in ousting Huerta in 1915.
However, the shaky truce between the men fell apart when Carranza declared himself as the interim President; Venustiano's first actions as leader, involved tracking down and quashing the armies of Villa and Zapata (who didn't side with him), to prevent further counter-revolution (Obregon remained his ally however). With that accomplished, he set to work bringing change to Mexico. As the leader of the Constitutional Army, he'd outlined the Plan of Guadalupe, which promised restoration of the 1857 Constitution. Thus, in 1916 he convened a convention in the city of Queretaro, with the goal of discussing the national constitution and perhaps redefining some of its shortcomings.
However, the convention was overpowered with liberal radicals who insisted on massive land reform and labor relations. New laws were decreed that only native-born Mexicans had property rights, and anti-exploitation labor laws were drafted, thus the moderate Carranza was outvoted continually.. Many anti-clerical reforms were put into place against the clergy, once new legislation was implemented. They stripped the Roman Catholic Church of recognition as a legal entity, took rights away from priests, and forbade any religious education. A liberal constitution became a distant memory for the President.
From 1917 to 1920, Carranza continued to rule Mexico, but enacted very little change and disappointed a lot of the populace. He faced many enemies, including the continued rebellion of Emiliano Zapata. The President had a problem with public corruption and struggled to reform some of the more radical Constitutional additions, while he also maintained a neutral stance during World War I. By the end of his term, he was determined not to run for re-election, and although his natural successor was Obregon, his ally, Venustiano felt that it was time for a civilian to take the ropes, not a military man.
This conviction would prove to be his downfall, as Obregon and a group of sympathetic generals drove Carranza from the capital in April 1920, chasing him into the state of Veracruz; he died less than a month later, shot in the chest and debate continues as to whether it was suicide or assassination. Venustiano had had good intentions, had made some costly mistakes; he's still remembered as the lesser of two evils (compared to Huerta) and the 1917 Constitution was ratified, but is still in place today.
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