Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Santa Anna was a solder and 5-time president of Mexico. He was born in Vera Cruz in 1794 and worked for a merchant there before joining the Loyalist Army. For many years he fought against Mexican independence and also fought against the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition and the Mina filibuster. He switched alliances and joined the independence movement, then retired from the military and became governor of Vera Cruz. While in Vera Cruz he defeated a Spanish invasion of Tampico, a success that made him a national hero. He leveraged that popularity to become President of Mexico in 1833 and a year later declared that Mexico was not ready for democracy and took over as a Centrist. He raised an army to put down a Liberal uprising in Zacatecas, then took his army to put down the revolution in Texas. After being defeated in Texas, he returned to Mexico. He became acting president in 1839, then dictatory 1841-1845 before his overthrow and exile to Cuba. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he finagled his way back into Mexico and organized forces against the US, and after the defeat at Mexico City, he went back into exile. He tried numerous times to return to Mexico to take power again but remained in exile until 1874 when he was allowed to return. He died in 1876.