Political Career
In 1820 he finally returned to Chile. He was then sent by Bernardo O'Higgins to Peru, to help in the independence of that country. In 1824 he was named as Minister of Government and Foreign Affairs, and in 1825, Intendant of Coquimbo.
In 1827, due to the resignation of the President Agustín Eyzaguirre, General Ramón Freire was elected President, while he was elected as Vice President. When General Freire himself resigned on May 5, 1827, General Pinto took over the position as Accidental President. As such he participated in the drafting of the Constitution of 1828.
A new presidential election was called in May 1829. General Pinto was the clear winner out of 9 candidates, with 118 electoral votes (29,06%), and was proclaimed elected on October 19. Nevertheless, the onset of the Chilean Civil War of 1829 was at hand.
The problem that caused the revolution happened in the vice presidential election. The winner should have been the first runner-up, Francisco Ruiz-Tagle (98 electoral votes or 24,13%), or the second runner-up, General José Joaquín Prieto, (61 votes or 15,02%), both conservatives. Nonetheless, Congress was controlled by the liberals and presided by Francisco Ramón Vicuña, also liberal. Arguing that no vice-presidential candidate had a majority, they selected Joaquín Vicuña, brother of the president of the senate, even though he only got 48 electoral votes (11,82%). That was all the excuse needed by the conservatives to rebel.
Pinto resigned the Presidency on November 2 (less than 2 weeks after his proclamation), an event that marked his retirement from public life. All his powers were assumed by the President of Congress, Francisco Ramón Vicuña, who was already acting as Accidental President since July 16, 1829, when Pinto had delegated his powers on him for the duration of the electoral campaign.
Read more about this topic: Francisco Antonio Pinto
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