Early Life and Career
He was born in São João del Rey, Minas Gerais and was of mostly Portuguese, but also Austrian descent and graduated in law. The Neves family name comes from an Azorean great-great-grandfather. Tancredo Neves was a descendant of Amador Bueno, a noted paulista from the colonial Brazilian era.
He began his political career as a member of the legislative chamber of his hometown in 1934, and was elected in 1947 to the Minas Gerais state legislature. Three years later he became a representative of his state in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. In 1953 he was appointed by President Getúlio Dornelles Vargas to be the Minister of Justice. Neves served in that post until Vargas committed suicide in 1954. In 1960, Neves ran unsuccessfully for governor of Minas Gerais.
During the political crisis that began with the resignation of President Jânio da Silva Quadros on 25 August 1961, a parliamentary system was installed in Brazil by a constitutional amendment passed on 2 September 1961. Neves was appointed as Prime Minister by President João Goulart and served from September 1961 until July 1962. The parliamentary system was abolished by plebiscite in January 1963.
Goulart was overthrown by a coup in 1964 and Neves, who had up to that point been considered a moderate politician, became an opponent to the military regime in the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). He was elected Senator in 1978 and governor of Minas Gerais in 1982.
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