José Sarney

José Sarney, born on April twenty-fourth, nineteen thirty, is a prominent Brazilian lawyer, journalist, politician, writer, poet, and novelist. He served as the thirty-first president of Brazil from nineteen eighty-five to nineteen ninety, following a brief tenure as the twentieth vice president for a month in early nineteen eighty-five. Sarney's political career began in the Chamber of Deputies, where he served from nineteen fifty-five until nineteen sixty-six, before moving to the Senate from nineteen seventy-one until his presidency.

Before ascending to the presidency, Sarney was the Governor of Maranhão from nineteen sixty-six to nineteen seventy. During the Brazilian military dictatorship, he aligned himself with the government party, ARENA, and became its president in nineteen seventy-nine. However, he later joined the dissenters and played a crucial role in establishing the Liberal Front Party. Sarney was elected as vice president on the ticket of Tancredo Neves from the PMDB, the former opposition party to the military regime. Following Neves' untimely death, Sarney assumed the presidency.

During his administration, Sarney faced the daunting challenge of addressing the severe inflation inherited from his predecessor, João Figueiredo. He, along with Finance Minister Dilson Funaro, launched the Cruzado Plan and Cruzado II, which aimed to freeze prices to combat inflation. Despite these efforts, both plans failed, leading to further attempts with the Bresser Plan and the Summer Plan, which also did not yield the desired results. On the international front, Sarney signed the Iguaçu Declaration, paving the way for the creation of Mercosur, and restored diplomatic relations with Cuba, which had been severed during the dictatorship.

Although Sarney began his presidency with significant popularity, public sentiment shifted due to the Brazilian debt crisis and the ineffectiveness of the Plano Cruzado. His government is often viewed as disastrous, marked by widespread clientelism that had lasting repercussions for Brazil post-military dictatorship. After leaving office, Sarney returned to the Senate, where he was re-elected in nineteen ninety and served until two thousand fifteen. He held the position of President of the Federal Senate three times and, at the age of ninety-five, is recognized as the oldest living former Brazilian president, boasting one of the longest congressional careers in the nation's history.