Jânio Quadros

Jânio da Silva Quadros (pron. ),PC (January 25, 1917, in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul —February 16, 1992, in São Paulo) was a Brazilian politician who served briefly as President of Brazil in 1961.

Quadros's meteoric career can be attributed to his widespread use of populist rhetoric and his extravagant behavior. He became mayor of the city of São Paulo in 1953 and governor of the state of São Paulo just two years later, in 1955. He was elected president of Brazil by a landslide in 1960, taking office on January 31, 1961.

Quadros laid the blame for the country's high rate of inflation on his predecessor, Juscelino Kubitschek. As president, Quadros outlawed gambling, banned women from wearing bikinis on the beach, and established relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba (for getting into a neutral international policy). In a move intended to win him even greater power, he resigned on August 25, 1961, expecting to return to the presidency by acclamation of the Brazilian people or by request of the National Congress of Brazil and the Military which, scared about the possibility of the leftist vice-president João Goulart taking oath as President, would refuse Quadros' resignation. This maneuver, however, was immediately rejected by the Brazilian legislature, which accepted his resignation and called on the President of the Congress, Pascoal Ranieri Mazzilli, to assume office until the leftist vice-president came back from his trip on East Asia. Goulart finally took oath as President on September 7, 1961, even though after having his power tied down due to a Parliamentarist amendment to the Constitution.

Quadros' resignation initiated a serious political crisis that culminated in a military coup in 1964. While the military did not allow him to participate in politics, by the 1980s Quadros had made a comeback. He joined the Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro, and was candidate for governor of São Paulo in 1982, only to be defeated by André Franco Montoro. Nevertheless, he was re-elected mayor of São Paulo in 1985, defeating the favored candidate, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, later president of Brazil. Quadros served as mayor until 1988. He died in São Paulo in 1992.

See also

• List of Presidents of Brazil
• 1964 Brazilian coup d'état