Café Filho

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Campos and the second or paternal family name is Café. "Filho" is a generational suffix meaning "son", which is used for someone whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.

His Excellency João Café Filho GCTE
Official portrait, 1954
18th President of Brazil
In office 24 August 1954 – 8 November 1955[nb]
Vice President	None
Preceded by	Getúlio Vargas
Succeeded by	Carlos Luz (acting)
Vice President of Brazil
In office 31 January 1951 – 3 September 1954
President	Getúlio Vargas
Preceded by	Nereu Ramos
Succeeded by	João Goulart
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 5 February 1946 – 31 January 1951
Constituency	Rio Grande do Norte
In office 2 May 1935 – 10 November 1937
Constituency	Rio Grande do Norte
Personal details
Born	(1899-02-03)3 February 1899 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Died	20 February 1970(1970-02-20) (aged 71) Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara, Brazil
Political party	PSN (1933–1937) PSP (1946–1965)
Spouse	Jandira Fernandes de Oliveira ​ ​ (m. 1921)​
Children	1
Profession	Journalist lawyer
Signature
n.b. ^ Acting president between 24 August 1954 and 3 September 1954. On leave between 8 November 1955 and 21 November 1955. Impeached on 22 November 1955.

João Fernandes Campos Café Filho (Portuguese: [ʒuˈɐ̃w feʁˈnɐ̃dʒis ˈkɐ̃pus kaˈfɛ ˈfiʎu]; 3 February 1899 – 20 February 1970) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 18th president of Brazil, taking office upon the suicide of president Getúlio Vargas. He was the first Protestant to occupy the position.

Biography

Early life and career

Café Filho was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 3 February 1899. He was the founder of the Jornal do Norte (1921), editor of the O Correio de Bezerros in the city of Bezerros, Pernambuco (1923), and director of the newspaper A Noite (1925), writing in the latter, articles in which he asked soldiers, corporals and young officers to refuse to fight the so-called "Coluna Prestes", which resulted in his conviction to three months in prison. He then escaped to Bahia in 1927, under the alias Senílson Pessoa Cavalcanti, but eventually returned to Natal, where he surrendered. In 1923, he ran unsuccessfully for councilman of Natal.

He joined the Liberal Alliance, and was one of the founders, in 1933, of the Social Nationalist Party of Rio Grande do Norte (PSN). Café Filho was elected federal deputy (1935–1937) and stood out for the defense of constitutional liberties. Threatened with arrest, he sought asylum in Argentina, returning to Brazil in 1938. He founded, along with Ademar de Barros, the Progressive Republican Party (PRP), for which he was elected federal deputy again (1946–1950). He was elected vice president by a coalition of parties that merged under the symbol Progressive Social Party (PSP). As vice president, he also served as the president of the Senate. He took office as president following the suicide of incumbent Getúlio Vargas, 24 August 1954.

Presidency

After taking over as president, Café Filho appointed to his new cabinet minister of finance the economist Eugenio Gudin, supporter of a more orthodox economic policy, who sought to stabilize the economy and combat inflation. The Minister adopted key measures to contain credit and cutting public expenditure, seeking thereby to reduce the public concerned deficit in its assessment of the inflationary process. During the Café Filho government, the single tax on electricity was instituted, generating the Federal Electrification Fund, as well as the withholding tax on income from the labor wage. Notable in his administration was the creation of the Committee on Location of the New Federal Capital, and the inauguration, in January 1955, of the Paulo Afonso hydroelectric plant. Café Filho encouraged the inflow of foreign capital in the country, which would influence the process of industrialization that followed.

Temporarily removed from the presidency on 3 November 1955, due to a cardiovascular disorder, on November 8 he was replaced by Carlos Luz, the president of the Chamber of Deputies. Recovered, Café Filho tried to reassume presidential powers, but, as part of the 1955 Brazilian coup d'état, his removal was approved by the Congress on 22 November 1955 and confirmed by the Supreme Court in December.

His removal through impeachment, with the congress declaring him unable to discharge his duties, came after military pressure.

Post-presidency

After the presidency, Café Filho was appointed Councillor of the Court of Accounts of Guanabara (1961–1970).

He died in Rio de Janeiro on 20 February 1970.

Honours

Foreign Honours

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword, Portugal (20 September 1951)
• Grand Cross of the Sash of the Three Orders, Portugal (22 April 1955)

External links

• Biography and Presidency of Café Filho
• The History of the Chamber of Deputies
• Average GDP growth: Vargas – Rousseff