Vargas, Getúlio

Vargas, Getúlio (Dorneles)

(born April 19, 1882, São Borja, Braz.—died Aug. 24, 1954, Rio de Janeiro) President of Brazil (1930–45, 1951–54). He was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul in 1928 and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1930, but later that year he overthrew the government to become head of state. In 1937 he abolished the constitutional government and set up the totalitarian New State, under which the previously autonomous states became dependent on central authority. He enacted labour reforms and social security laws, introduced extensive educational reforms, enfranchised women, and granted the secret ballot. Deposed by a coup in 1945, he was elected president again in 1951; restrained by Congress and public opinion, he was unable to hold support and, faced with forced retirement, took his own life.