54 Facts About Vicente Fox

Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006.

Vicente Fox became the first president not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party since 1929, and the first elected from an opposition party since Francisco I Madero in 1911.

The Vicente Fox administration became embroiled with diplomatic conflicts with Venezuela and Bolivia after supporting the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which was opposed by those two countries.

Vicente Fox has been involved in public speaking and the development of the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum.

Vicente Fox is currently the co-president of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of centre-right political parties.

Vicente Fox was expelled from the PAN in 2013, after having endorsed the PRI presidential candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto, in the 2012 elections.

Vicente Fox was born on 2 July 1942 in Mexico City, the second of nine children.

Vicente Fox's father, Jose Luis Fox Pont, was a native-born Mexican of German descent.

Vicente Fox's mother, Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was a Basque immigrant from San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, in Spain.

Vicente Fox's grandfather, Joseph Louis Fuchs, was born in Cincinnati in 1865, attended Woodward High School and moved to Mexico at age 32.

Vicente Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincon in Guanajuato.

Vicente Fox spent a year at Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin where he learned English.

In 1964, Vicente Fox was hired by the Coca-Cola Company as a route supervisor and drove a delivery truck.

Vicente Fox was the president of the Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the Leon campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana and of the Lux Institute.

In 1969, Vicente Fox married Lilian de la Concha, a receptionist at Coca-Cola.

Vicente Fox remarried on 2 July 2001, while serving as President of Mexico, to Marta Maria Sahagun Jimenez.

In 1991, after serving in the Chamber of Deputies, Vicente Fox sought the governorship in Guanajuato, but lost the election to Ramon Aguirre Velazquez of the PRI.

Four years later, Vicente Fox ran again, this time winning by a vote of 2 to 1.

Vicente Fox was one of the first state governors of Mexico to give a clear, public and timely account of the finances of his state.

Vicente Fox pushed for the consolidation of small firms, promoted the overseas sales of goods manufactured in Guanajuato, and created an extensive system of small loans to allow the poor to open a changarro and buy a car and a television.

Under Vicente Fox, Guanajuato became the fifth most important Mexican state economy.

On 7 July 1997, after the opposition parties first won a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, Vicente Fox decided to run for President of Mexico.

In spite of opposition within his political party, Vicente Fox secured his candidacy representing the Alliance for Change, a political coalition formed by the National Action Party and the Green Ecological Party of Mexico on 14 November 1999.

The group was instrumental in getting Vicente Fox elected President of Mexico, and the phrase "Amigos de Fox" was used as a campaign slogan referring to the millions of people supporting Fox in the 2000 presidential election.

In 2003, money-laundering charges were lodged against Amigos de Vicente Fox, but were dropped shortly before the July 2003 midterm elections.

Vicente Fox declared victory that same night, a victory that was ratified by then-President Zedillo.

Vicente Fox took office on 1 December 2000, the first time since 1917 that an opposition candidate had taken power from the long-reigning Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Vicente Fox spread his image as one of peace and welcomed many to his own ranch in Guanajuato, Mexico.

When Fox welcomed US President George W Bush to the ranch, both presidents were wearing Fox's signature black cowboy boots, prompting The Wall Street Journal to call it "The Boot Summit".

Vicente Fox failed to take charge and provide cabinet leadership, failed to set priorities, and turned a blind eye to alliance building.

Since leaving office in December 2006, Vicente Fox has maintained himself in the public eye by speaking in countries such as Nigeria, Ireland, Canada, and the United States about topics such as the controversial 2006 election and the Iraq War.

In Mexico, Vicente Fox has been criticized by some for his busy post-presidency since former Mexican presidents are traditionally expected to stay out of the political spotlight.

Vicente Fox joined four other Latin American presidents at the One Young World Summit 2014 in Dublin, Ireland, to discuss the Telefonica Millennial Survey.

Vicente Fox told those in the audience that eradicating corruption "has to start with education" and that his focus is on promoting leadership.

Vicente Fox is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that offers, discreetly and confidentially, a range of experienced advisors to political leaders facing difficult situations.

In 2013, Vicente Fox discussed why the West has pursued a moral crusade against drugs at HowTheLightGetsIn festival in Hay-on-Wye.

In 2016, Vicente Fox co-signed a letter to Ban Ki-moon calling for a more humane drug policy.

In July 2017, Vicente Fox was an international observer to the unofficial Venezuelan referendum held by the opposition.

In 2018, Vicente Fox joined the High Times board of directors.

Vicente Fox left the board in 2020 over concerns surrounding the company's stock offering.

Vicente Fox has been an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, beginning with Trump's bid for the Republican candidacy in the 2016 presidential election.

Later in September 2016, The Washington Post reported that Vicente Fox had received multiple emails from Trump's campaign soliciting donations throughout the month.

The day after Trump won the election, Vicente Fox wrote an editorial on the International Business Times website where he lamented Trump's victory and explored what Mexico could do in response.

Vicente Fox has continued criticizing Trump on Twitter after the election.

In September 2017, Vicente Fox was in the news after President Trump announced he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in six months if the US congress failed to pass legislation to address the issue.

Since May 2017, Fox has appeared in a series of humorous videos seriously denouncing Donald Trump, including "Vicente Fox is Running for President of the United States" which was released in September.

Vicente Fox's autobiography, entitled Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President, was released in September 2007.

Vicente Fox faced the subject several times during interviews, such as one held with Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, who questioned him about the massive illegal immigration problem of Mexicans into the United States.

For example, Vicente Fox wrote that Bush was "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life," and claimed that he was surprised that Bush had ever made it to the White House.

On 12 January 2007, over a month after he left office, Vicente Fox announced the construction of a center of studies, library and museum that was labeled by the US press as Mexico's first presidential library.

In 2015, Vicente Fox was interviewed by Peter High for Forbes at the library, which is called "Centro Vicente Fox".

On 20 September 2007, Vicente Fox was elected co-president of the Centrist Democratic International at its leaders' meeting in Rome.

In October 2007, an announcement was made in the municipality of Boca del Rio, Veracruz, that a 3-meter statue of Vicente Fox was to be erected to honor the former president.

PAN members accused Veracruz's governor, Fidel Herrera Beltran, of "ordering the attack on the statue," and Vicente Fox called the governor intolerant.