Fernando Henrique Cardoso was born in Rio de Janeiro on June 18, 1931 and moved to São Paulo as a child. As a young man, he studied social sciences at USP and participated in the student movement
With recognized academic career, he was assistant of names such as Florestan Fernandes and Roger Bastilde. In 1954, he became the youngest member of the USP University Council and, in 1961, obtained the title of PhD in Sociology
He exiled during the military dictatorship and taught in Chile, Argentina, Mexico and France. He returned to Brazil in 1968, when he was a professor of the Chair of Political Science at USP, but in 1969, under AI-5, he was compulsorily retired
He applied for the Senate for the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), being elected alternate in 1978 and holder in 1986. He tried to elect Mayor of São Paulo in 1985, but lost his position to Jânio Quadros
In 1988 he founded the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), along with Franco Montoro, Mario Covas and a hundred other Dissidents of the PMDB, becoming leader of the new Senate caption (1988-1992)
He was the rapporteur of the Internal Regulations of the Constituent Assembly between 1987 and 1988. He was later Minister of Foreign Affairs and Farm of Itamar Franco (PMDB), when he led the idealization and implementation of the Real Plan
In 1994, he was elected president in the first round of elections and was reelected in 1998, becoming the first president of Brazil’s history to occupy the executive’s leadership for two consecutive terms
During his term, he held a series of economic reforms and rebelled the public accounts. He also took initial steps to social policies that flourished with his successor, Lula (PT)
The reelection amendment ended up yielding the main scandal of its government, when Folha revealed a vote buying operation of deputies to be approved. FHC has always denied the accusation
During his term, FHC also promoted the privatization of several state -owned companies, yielding about $ 90 billion to the government. The money, however, was largely used to cover the liability generated by currency policy
He left the presidency in 2003 and began to dedicate himself to a private schedule, punctuated by lectures. In 2004, he created the FHC Foundation, an apartisan organization dedicated to the debate and production of knowledge about democracy in Brazil
In the following presidential elections, supported José Serra (2002 and 2010), Geraldo Alckmin (2006) and Aécio Neves (2014). In 2018, it was neutral in the choice between Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad. Already in 2022, it endorsed Lula in the second round
Author of more than 30 books, was elected in June 2013 for chair 36 of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, becoming the third Brazilian president to join the GLA, after Getúlio Vargas and José Sarney
I am not a person who wants popularity. I want to have values, believe in things
FHC in debate at the Art Museum from Rio, April 2014
See personal trajectory and Lula’s politics
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