Mariano Arista

He was born in the state of San Luis Potosí in colonial New Spain. Originally an officer in the Spanish Army, Arista later joined the revolutionary army of Agustín de Iturbide. Later, he served under Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexico's on-again/off-again dictator during the attempt to put down the 1836 Texas Revolution.

In 1846, Arista was given command of the Army of the North and sent to expel American troops from territory claimed by Mexico in Texas. The resulting engagement ignited the bloody Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. Arista was in command of Mexican forces during the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, where he was defeated, due largely to superior U.S. artillery.

Personally quite brave, Arista was a dedicated republican – a member of Mexico's liberal faction, and therefore the natural enemy of his largely conservative general staff. At both the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Arista was ill-served by the political division among his staff.

After Resaca de la Palma, Mexico's government recalled Arista, and he was removed from command. He requested a court-martial and was absolved of guilt for the defeats at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.[1] Arista spent the rest of the war as a functionary, seeing little combat.

Presidency of Mariano Arista[2]
Office	Name	Term
Relations	Maria Yanez	16 Jan 1851 – 28 Apr 1851
	Jose Maria Ortiz Monasterio	29 Apr 1851 – 9 Jun 1851
	Mariano Macedo	10 Jun 1851 – 10 Sep 1851
	Jose Fernando Ramirez	11 Sep 1851 – 3 Mar 1852
	Jose Urbano Fonseca	4 Mar 1852 – 19 Mar 1852
	Jose Fernando Ramirez	20 Mar 1852 – 2 Sep 1852
	Jose Miguel Arroyo	3 Sep 1852 – 22 Oct 1852
	Mariano Yanez	23 Oct 1852 – 10 Dec 1852
	Jose Miguel Arroyo	11 Dec 1852 – 5 Jan 1853
Justice	Jose Maria Aguirre	16 Jan 1851 – 2 Sep 1851
	Jose Maria Duran	3 Sep 1851 – 10 Sep 1851
	Jose Urbano Fonseca	11 Sep 1851 – 2 Sep 1852
	Jose Maria Aguirre	3 Sep 1852 – 26 Oct 1852
	Jose Maria Duran	27 Oct 1852 – 12 Dec 1852
	Ponciano Arriaga	13 Dec 1852 – 5 Jan 1853
Treasury	Don Manuel Payno	16 Jan 1851 – 28 Jan 1851
	Jose Luis Huici	29 Jan 1851 – 16 Feb 1851
	Jose Ignacio Esteva	17 Feb 1851 – 28 Mar 1851
	Jose Maria Aguirre	29 Mar 1851 – 28 Apr 1851
	Mariano Yanez	29 Apr 1851 – 24 May 1851
	Manuel Pina y Cuevas	25 May 1851 – 1 Sep 1851
	Marcos Esparza	2 Sep 1851 – 13 Sep 1852
	Guillermo Prieto	14 Sep 1852 – 5 Jan 1853
War	Manuel Robles Pezuela	16 Jan 1851 – 18 Jun 1852
	Manuel Maria de Sandoval	19 Jun 1852 – 21 Sep 1852
	Pedro Maria Anaya	22 Sep 1852 – 5 Jan 1853

In 1851, Arista succeeded José Joaquín de Herrera as president of Mexico. He sought to bring fiscal stability to the nation. Conservative resistance to Arista's rule and an eventual revolt by the conservatives led to his 1853 resignation and exile.

He died on board the English steamer Tagus while traveling from Lisbon, Portugal, to France on 7 August 1855. In 1880, his remains were returned to Mexico, where the Liberal faction named him a national hero.

• List of heads of state of Mexico
• Battles of the Mexican–American War
• History of Mexico

• Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican-American War, 1846–1848.