History UsefulNotes / PresidentsOfChile

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attempts]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a manipulator and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei Montalva's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the lack of common goods in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with businessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-of-center ones.[[note]]Former president Frei Montalva would sent a lenghty letter (and we mean ''[[https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Carta_de_Eduardo_Frei_Montalva_a_Mariano_Rumor,_Presidente_de_la_Uni%C3%B3n_Mundial_de_la_Democracia_Cristiana lenghty]]'', link in Spanish) to the president of the World Union of Christian Democrats (and then-incumbent Italian Prime Minister) Mariano Rumor following the 1973 coup explaining why the Chilean Christian Democratic Party supported it (albeit very reluctantly), citing various examples of economic mismanagement in Allende's government.[[/note]] Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And a few months before the coup... he had publicly announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

* '''Eduardo Frei Montalva''' (1964-1970): Christian Democrat. A [[ButNotTooForeign Half-Chilean/half-Swiss]] middle-class lawyer who first was associated with conservatives, but then left and helped found the Christian Democratic Party when he and others thought they weren't doing enough for social justice. His period was characterized for a lot of reforms, especially agrarian and educational and started a program of land seizure and redistribution. Though he initially agreed with the 1973 coup, eventually he was its strongest opponent. In 1982 he died while recovering on a surgery [[EpilepticTrees on VERY suspicious circumstances]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eduardo_Frei_Montalva and his possible murder is still being investigated]]. In popular culture Frei is specially recalled due to his extremely unusual physical features (''very'' tall, ''very'' lean and with a huge GagNose, [[StrongFamilyResemblance inherited by several of his children and grandchildren]]), and kind of TheComicallySerious.
* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attempts]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a manipulator and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with businessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And a few months before the coup... he had publicly announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

* '''Gabriel González Videla''' alias "Don Gabito" (1946-1952): Radical. He won the elections only thanks to the support of the Communist Party, but he betrayed the communists and made them illegal. (While it ''is'' true that the Communists were interfering with several government action, that ''still'' smacks of DisproportionateRetribution.) The most important thing in his government was the advancement on women’s rights. Opinions of him were divided, his supporters saw his treason to the communists as a necessary maneuver in the complicated climate of the upcoming UsefulNotes/ColdWar, while others, including poet Creator/PabloNeruda, thought he just sold out to the United States. Usually caricaturized as a ManChild who did childish stuff on La Moneda (like sliding down the stairs' rail or hang from a lamp).

* '''Pedro Aguirre Cerda''' (1938-1941): Radical. From a middle-class family, he was both a lawyer and a schoolteacher. He summed up the goals of his government in the quote, “to govern is to educate”, so he dedicated himself to improve the schools and education in general; though he also had to deal with another earthquake in 1939. (He actually managed to checkmate the right-wing via compromising one of his most ambitious projects, the CORFO, in the reconstruction of the damaged cities). He was ill with tuberculosis when he took the office, so he traveled a lot trying to extend his life a little more; the satirical papers, not knowing it, modified his quote to “to govern is to travel”. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII arrived and he, despite the pressure from the National Socialist Party, declared the country neutral. He died before his term could end, leading to ''massive'' mourning among Chileans. He kind of looked like Cantinflas, actually, with his notorious mustache. Quite popular compared to other presidents, his FanNickname is "Don Tinto" (Mr. Red Wine) due to owning wine plantations.
* '''Jerónimo Méndez''' (1941): Being Minister of Interior, he took charge when Aguirre died and called for elections. Nothing more to add.
* '''Juan Antonio Ríos''' (1942-1946): Radical, lawyer. He finally broke relations with the Axis Powers because of American pressure, but his attitude to not let anyone give him orders left him gradually without a party (and gave him the FanNickname "Don Mandantonio"). Already ill when elected, he died before he could end his term. He looked slightly similar (very slightly) to Creator/MartinScorsese, especially the glasses and eyebrows.
* '''Gabriel González Videla''' alias "Don Gabito" (1946-1952): Radical. He won the elections only thanks to the support of the Communist Party, but he betrayed the communists and made them illegal. (While it ''is'' true that the Communists were interfering with several government action, that ''still'' smacks of DisproportionateRetribution.) The most important thing in his government was the advancement on women’s rights. Opinions of him were divided, his supporters saw his treason to the communists as a necessary maneuver in the complicated climate of the upcoming UsefulNotes/ColdWar, while others, including poet Creator/PabloNeruda, thought he just sold out to America. Usually caricaturized as a ManChild who did childish stuff on La Moneda (like sliding down the stairs' rail or hang from a lamp).

* '''Pedro Aguirre Cerda''' (1938-1941): Radical. From a middle-class family, he was both a lawyer and a schoolteacher. He summed up the goals of his government in the quote, “to govern is to educate”, so he dedicated himself to improve the schools and education in general; though he also had to deal with another earthquake in 1939. (He actually managed to checkmate the right-wing via compromising one of his most ambitious projects, the CORFO, in the reconstruction of the damaged cities). He was deathly ill with tuberculosis when he took the charge, so he traveled a lot trying to extend his life a little more; the satirical papers, not knowing it, modified his quote to “to govern is to travel”. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII arrived and he, despite the pressure from the National Socialist Party, declared the country neutral. He died before his term could end, leading to ''massive'' mourning among Chileans. He kind of looked like Cantinflas, actually, with his notorious mustache. Quite popular compared to other presidents, his FanNickname is "Don Tinto" (Mr. Red Wine) due to owning wine plantations.

* '''Pedro Aguirre Cerda''' (1938-1941): Radical. From a middle-class family, he was both a lawyer and a schoolteacher. He was the author of a MemeticMutation, “to govern is to educate”, so he dedicated himself to improve the schools and education in general; though he also had to deal with another earthquake in 1939. (He actually managed to checkmate the right-wing via compromising one of his most ambitious projects, the CORFO, in the reconstruction of the damaged cities). He was deathly ill with tuberculosis when he took the charge, so he traveled a lot trying to extend his life a little more; the satirical papers, not knowing it, modified his meme to “to govern is to travel”. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII arrived and he, despite the pressure from the National Socialist Party, declared the country neutral. He died before his term could end, leading to ''massive'' mourning among Chileans. He kind of looked like Cantinflas, actually, with his notorious mustache. Quite popular compared to other presidents, his FanNickname is "Don Tinto" (Mr. Red Wine) due to owning wine plantations.

* '''Gabriel González Videla''' alias "Don Gabito" (1946-1952): Radical. He won the elections only thanks to the support of the Communist Party, but he betrayed the communists and made them illegal (While it ''is'' true that the Communists were interfering with several government action, that ''still'' smacks of DisproportionateRetribution). The most important thing in his government was the advancement on women’s rights. Opinions of him were divided, his supporters saw his treason to the communists as a necessary maneuver in the complicated climate of the upcoming UsefulNotes/ColdWar, while others, including poet Creator/PabloNeruda, thought he just sold out to America. Usually caricaturized as a ManChild who did childish stuff on La Moneda (like sliding down the stairs' rail or hang from a lamp).

* '''Arturo Alessandri Palma''' (1932-1938): Liberal, but more conservative. Once again in power, Alessandri had to face the possible threat of another uprising instigated by Ibáñez, whom by now had become his worst enemy; to deal with this he instituted a pseudo-secret police tasked with mitigate any revolt or menace, and disbanded them when he felt there was no more risk. There were some rebellions that were ruthlessly stomped, including the Seguro Obrero massacre, where a bunch of militants of the National Socialist Movement were killed in ''very'' violent and suspicious circunstances following a botched attempt to put Ibáñez in charge; Alessandri himself kept repeating that he '''never''' ordered said massacre until the end of his life. Aside of this his government was heavy on censorship (even of political caricatures). Frequently caricaturized as someone weak and submissive in his first term and hard and repressive on his second term, true to his nickname of “the lion of Tarapacá”. His dog Ulk (a Great Dane) also reached memetic status.

Once the civil war ended, the Congress established a parliamentary government… except for one tiny detail: the only thing the republic had of parliamentary now was the fact that the congress was free to remove any minister whenever they wanted. This ridiculous attitude meant that, even though the president was still the man in power and the one who governed, he had to low his head to the congress on ANYTHING, while they didn’t take any responsibilities for any screw-up made by the president’s narrow capability of government. Most of the guys wore a mustache in this era, by the way.

'''''Republican Period:''''' '''We finally achieved independence! Wait, you mean running a country is not that easy?''' - The first period starts with the ''Patria Nueva'' (New Fatherland), after re-obtaining the independence of the country and establishing as such, and ends in 1891. It’s marked with the continuing growing of the new country. The first two on the list are actually Supreme Directors, actually more of a dictator than a president, by the way.

'''''Parliamentary Period:''''' '''We won’t allow you to do anything we don’t want to!''' – Once the civil war ended, the Congress established a parliamentary government… except for one tiny detail: the only thing the republic had of parliamentary now was the fact that the congress was free to remove any minister whenever they wanted. This ridiculous attitude meant that, even though the president was still the man in power and the one who governed, he had to low his head to the congress on ANYTHING, while they didn’t take any responsibilities for any screw-up made by the president’s narrow capability of government. Most of the guys wore a mustache in this era, by the way.

'''''Presidency Period:''''' '''Trying to fix things up amidst social clashes and economical ups-and-downs''' – The aforementioned phrase resumes this period quite well. It lasted from 1925 until 1973.

'''''Pinochet Dictatorship (1973-1990):''''' '''DINA, Desaparecidos, Repression, Chicago Boys… am I forgetting something? Oh yeah, [[RunningGag another earthquake]]''' - Until the end of the Cold War, [[UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet Augusto Pinochet]] would keep control of the country through a [[BananaRepublic dictatorship]]. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dictatorship_of_Chile_(1973–90)#Suppression_of_political_activity Opponents would be persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, raped, forcefully disappeared, relegated to small villages or exiled]] and, thanks to the network known as Operación Cóndor (Operation Condor), they were not safe even in other countries (as people like ex-Commander-in-Chief Carlos Prats and ex-Minister Orlando Letelier sadly found out). His regime would be pretty infamous for its '''very''' poor human rights register, which would eventually alienate even the people that supported him at the beginning - whether outside or inside the country.

In "better" news, he gathered a group of Chilean economists to analyze and propose solutions to the highly impoverished state for the country, essentially asking them "how do we enable Chileans to put food on their tables again?". The result was a series of economical reforms that brought what is commonly called ''The Chilean Miracle'', a bounce back to a prosperous economical state... [[MoodWhiplash Which came to an end]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_1982 in 1982]], when the Chilean economy all but collapsed, and later SEVERELY increased the gap between the rich and the poor. This group of economists are called the Chicago Boys because all of them studied economics at the Chicago University. Also, due to the strong repression on Pinochet's government, crime fell to an all-time low.

'''''Transition to Democracy:''''' '''Now we’re on top, dammit!'''[[note]]Of what?[[/note]] – This period is marked for the growing of the country internally and for getting a nice reputation abroad (the last period left a not-so-nice impression of the country). There are conflicts about when exactly ended the “transition to democracy”; some would say it ended after the first president, who only governed for four years, but others say it ended when Piñera took charge, ending with the Concertación governments. In order to make this as neutral as possible, all the presidents, including the current one, will be included here.

* '''Ricardo Lagos''' (2000-2006): Socialist. Once the main opponent of Pinochet’s dictatorship, he had to deal tense relations with the neighbor countries (especially Bolivia), corruption scandals and had to make a decision regarding [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror George W. Bush’s intention of invading Iraq]] (for the record, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he chose not to support him]]). Enjoyed of enormous support back during his term, but at the end was criticized for not doing enough about the inequity problem. Nowadays known as “[[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Captain Planet]]” for his role as Special Envoy on Climate Change, for which he has been criticized, as his presidential actions don't show any concern for the environment. The media portrays him as some sort of LargeHam MemeticBadass, based mainly on the occasion when he confronted Pinochet and his desire to remain in power on television, an incident known in Chile as “the finger of Lagos” (he [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger pointed at the camera with his index finger]] while he criticized Pinochet with a [[KubrickStare very menacing look]]).

* '''Ramón Freire''' (1823-1826): He abolished slavery, making Chile the first country on South America (Although to be fair, Chile had very few slaves at that time, and freeing them would not have affected the country's economy at all, unlike other nations.) to do it so and opened the country to external market. The independence of the entire territory was finally achieved in his period too (before that, the island of Chiloé remained in Spanish control). However, he found himself in a conflict with the Holy See and his management was not seen as better than O’Higgins, so he was forced to resign too (actually, he was dismissed earlier, while on a campaign, but recovered the power when he came back). As a final note, he was the one who gave the tobacco monopoly to Diego Portales Palazuelos and made him enter into politics.

* '''Gabriel Boric''' (2022-2026): Progressive leftist. Youngest Chilean president of all time and first president born during Pinochet's dictatorship. Won with the most leftist platform (although he had to moderate over many issues to get the endorsement of centrist figures) since Allende, against José Antonio Kast from the right-wing Republican Party. He was one of the leaders of the students protests of the first government of Piñera, and a congressman since the second government of Bachelet. At congress he was one of the biggest proponents of lowering the salary of congressmen and government authorities. He also pushed heavily for more funding for mental health (being himself diagnosed and treated for OCD) and favored the deal for a new constitution, a controversial move at the time, since the most leftist parts of his coalition saw it as pact with the devil. Known in Chile for his energetic speeches, HotBlooded tendencies, and a constant refusal to wear ties. His goverment was seen as a mix of young progressives leftists, as him, and experienced center-left politicians. His goverment suffered some big blows like the rejection of the constitutional proposal at the referendum, and the rejection of his tax reform, needed to fund many of his promises. Still, he managed to raise the minumum wage, reduce the maximum work hours and making public healthcare free for everyone, among other things.

So there you have it, the presidents of Chile. That’s the reason why the politics in [[WorldOfSnark Chile]] [[DeadpanSnarker are a motive of mockery.]]

Some other stuff that happened during this period included a visit from the Pope (which is seen either as an attempt to congratulate the country with the rest of the world or UsefulNotes/ThePope's genuine attempt to help recover democracy -- and quite recalled by protests following John Paul II almost everywhere), the recovery and then collapse of the economy, the '''horrifying''' repressions of the [[SecretPolice DINA]] headed by [[CoronelKillgore Manuel "Mamo" Contreras]], a new Constitution approved in a very disputed plebiscite (very similar to the Anschluss, actually), the death of former President Frei ''juuuuuuuust'' when he had publicly announced [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere that he would withdraw his former support to Pinochet]], and yet ''ANOTHER'' earthquake, this time on the capital itself. Finally, after both internal and external pressure elections were called in 1988 (it's said he has a VillainousBreakdown and actually didn't want to acknowledge his loss), ending the dictatorship and starting the democracy again.

* '''Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez''' (1958-1964): Independent. Son of the former president Arturo Alessandri, as well as his complete opposite: a pragmatic, cynical, [[SugarAndIcePersonality apparently unemotional]] businessman and engineer. Being rather conservative, he was supported by the right wing as an alternative to Salvador Allende (who, actually, had been in the career of the seat since the election before) or another leftist candidate. Had to face in 1960 not just another earthquake, but '''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake THE]]''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake earthquake]] and also the continuing inflation on the country. He lived alone in an apartment near to the presidential palace and every day went there ''by foot'', often exchanging polite conversations with the bystanders. Ferociously ''loathed'' by left-wing press for being a leader within the executives of the "Papelera", the biggest paper-related business in Chile.

* '''Gabriel Boric''' (2022-2026): Progressive leftist and newly elected president. Youngest Chilean president of all time and first president born during Pinochet's dictatorship. Won with the most leftist platform (although he had to moderate over many issues to get the endorsement of centrist figures) since Allende, against José Antonio Kast from the right-wing Republican Party. He was one of the leaders of the students protests of the first government of Piñera, and a congressman since the second government of Bachelet. At congress he was one of the biggest proponents of lowering the salary of congressmen and government authorities. He also pushed heavily for more funding for mental health (being himself diagnosed and treated for OCD) and favored the deal for a new constitution, a controversial move at the time, since the most leftist parts of his coalition saw it as pact with the devil. Known in Chile for his energetic speeches, HotBlooded tendencies, and a SeriouslyScruffy image, he started dressing in a more formal way during his presidential campaign, however, he is still almost never seen wearing a tie. His presidential campaign was an uphill fight, struggling at first to get signatures to legally register his candidacy (Many people consider most of the signatures he got at the last minute were mostly to own congresswoman Pamela Jiles who went viral for a LargeHam video making fun of Boric for not being able to get them). Then he beat Communist mayor Daniel Jadue against all expectations, helped mostly by a series of gaffes by Jadue and the support of centrist who saw him as a more moderate candidate.

* '''Bernardo O’Higgins''' (1817-1823): Even though there were other Supreme Directors before him, he is recognized as the first guy in charge of Chile as a new country, so he’s the first on the list. A redhead born as the illegitimate son of a former Chilean Governor/Viceroy of Peru, he grew into an independence fighter after quite the BreakTheCutie experiences he had in both Chile and England. O'Higgins was assigned the position when San Martín instead preferred to go on a South American tour fighting for independence of more territories. He made developments in public buildings and agriculture. Fearing another invasion of Spain, he also created the Navy. However, his efforts to abolish the nobility and his clashes with the church, along with a new constitution seen with bad eyes by them alienated him from the upper class, so he was forced to resign. He left for Peru with his family (including his maternal half-sister Rosa, his son Demetrio and others) and lived the rest of his life there. Said to have had ties with Masonry and specially the ''very'' shady "Logia Lautarina" hailing from Argentina.