Clímaco Calderón Reyes (August 23, 1852 – July 19, 1913) was a Colombian lawyer and politician, who became 15th

President of Colombia The president of Colombia ( es, Presidente de Colombia), officially known as the president of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Presidente de la República de Colombia) or president of the nation ( es, Presidente de la Nacion) is the head of stat ...

for one day, following the death of President Francisco Javier Zaldúa.

Biographic data

Calderón was born in Santa Rosa de Viterbo,

Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...

, on August 23, 1852, in what was then the

Republic of New Granada The Republic of New Granada was a 1831–1858 centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil. On 9 May 1834, the national fla ...

. He died in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

, Cundinamarca on July 19, 1913, at the age of 60.

Personal life

His parents were Carlos Calderón Reyes and Clotilde Reyes Fonseca,

half sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

of future President

Rafael Reyes Prieto Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi ...

. He was married to Amelia Pérez Triana, daughter of President

Santiago Pérez de Manosalba Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. After finishing school in his native city, he attended

Our Lady of the Rosary University Universidad del Rosario (officially in es, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario) is a Colombian university founded on Roman Catholic principles, in 1653 by Fray Cristobal de Torres. Located in Bogotá, due to its important place in Colo ...

, where he graduated with a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

, where he also worked as professor of

Civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

Penal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...

Political career

Calderón started his political ascend in Boyacá where he was judge in the Circuit court of

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department ...

, deputy in the Legislative Assembly, and Director of Education during the administration of

José Eusebio Otálora José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

During the Administration of Francisco Javier Zaldúa he was named Attorney General of the Nation. On December 21, 1882, following the death of President Zaldúa, Calderón became President of Colombia in accordance to the presidential line of succession, which indicated that given the death of the sitting president, the presidency would fall to the first and second

designate Designation (from Latin ''designatio'') is the process of determining an incumbent's successor. A candidate that won an election for example, is the ''designated'' holder of the office the candidate has been elected to, up until the candidate's i ...

s respectively, but at the time of Zaldúa's death the Designates, Rafael Núñez and

were absent, and in this case, the

Attorney General of Colombia The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia ( es, Fiscalía General de la Nación; literally "General Prosecutorial Office of the Nation") is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative au ...

would hold the executive power, thus making Calderón Reyes the 17th President of the United States of Colombia. Calderón also worked as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

, and Colombian

Consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

and

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

The Presidency

His presidency is the shortest in the

History of Colombia The history of Colombia includes the settlements and society by indigenous peoples, most notably, the Muisca Confederation, Quimbaya Civilization, and Tairona Chiefdoms; the Spanish arrived in 1492 and initiated a period of annexation and coloni ...

. The only

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of ...

he carried out was ordering his troops, that were under the command of General

Sergio Camargo Sergio Andres Camargo Peñaranda (born August 16, 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. Club career Toronto FC In 2009, Camargo went on trial with Vitória de Gu ...

, to disobey orders given by the now deceased president Zaldúa, who had commanded General Camargo to ready his troops to take military action on Congress for their opposition against him. The next day, on December 22, Calderón handed down the presidency to José Eusebio Otálora. Even though Calderón only served as president for one day, Calderón was granted the benefits of an Ex-President and it is included in the presidential line along with his predecessor and successor. After his short presidency, Calderón became an important Colombian diplomat, serving for nearly twenty years in the

first as

Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

of Colombia to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and subsequently as Colombian Minister to Washington, and was named

by President

Rafael Reyes Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Pos ...

on October 27, 1904.

Literary work

Calderón had a special interest on history and Finance and wrote some books on this subjects. * ''El Curso Forzoso en los Estados Unidos'' New York. La América Editorial Company, 1892. * ''Elementos de Hacienda Pública'' Bogotá. Imprenta de "La Luz", 1911. * ''Colombia 1893''.Colombia 1893 / by CliÌmaco CalderoÌn and Edward E. Britton. (WorldCat.org)
at worldcat.org * ''La moneda en la época colonial'' * ''Memorias sobre amonestación en el Nuevo Reino de Granada'' * ''Los bancos americanos''

References