João Goulart

João Belchior Marques Goulart, known as Jango, was born into a ranching family in São Borja, Rio Grande do Sul, the hometown of Getúlio Vargas. He rose in the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB) and, as Vargas's labor minister in 1953-1954, proposed doubling the minimum wage, a move that cost him the post. He was elected vice president twice, in 1955 and 1960. When Jânio Quadros resigned in 1961, military ministers tried to block his succession, and he took office only after Congress adopted a parliamentary system that cut his powers. A January 1963 plebiscite restored full presidential rule. His drive for 'basic reforms' polarized the country, and he was overthrown on 1 April 1964. He died in exile in Argentina in 1976.

Goulart's presidency is among the most contested chapters of Brazilian history. Supporters and many historians see him as a reformist democrat who tried to extend labor rights, land reform and education to the poor majority and was overthrown by a civil-military conspiracy backed by the United States. Critics at the time, including much of the press, the Church hierarchy and the business community, accused him of tolerating communist influence, encouraging strikes and military insubordination, and seeking to bypass Congress. Economists note that his Three-Year Plan, drafted by Celso Furtado, failed to curb rising inflation. The 1964 coup that removed him opened 21 years of military rule. In 2013 Congress symbolically annulled the session that had declared the presidency vacant, and his remains were exhumed to investigate claims, never confirmed, that he was poisoned.