Guillermo León Valencia

This article is about the Colombian politician. For the poet, see Guillermo Valencia. For the football player, see Guillermo León.

Guillermo León Valencia
21st President of Colombia
In office 7 August 1962 (1962-08-07) – 7 August 1966 (1966-08-07)
Preceded by	Alberto Lleras Camargo
Succeeded by	Carlos Lleras Restrepo
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia
In office 25 May 1953 (1953-05-25) – 13 June 1953 (1953-06-13)
President	Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláeza
Preceded by	Evaristo Sourdis Juliao
Succeeded by	Juan Uribe Holguín
Colombia Ambassador to Spain
In office 1950–1953
President	Laureano Gómez Castro
Preceded by	Francisco Umaña Bernal
Succeeded by	Alejandro Galvis Galvis
Personal details
Born	Guillermo León Valencia Muñoz (1909-04-27)27 April 1909 Popayán, Cauca, Colombia
Died	4 November 1971(1971-11-04) (aged 62) New York City, New York, United States
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Susana López Navia (1931–1964)
Children	Pedro Felipe Valencia López Alma Valencia López Ignacio Valencia López Diana Valencia López

Guillermo León Valencia Muñoz (27 April 1909 – 4 November 1971) was the 21st President of Colombia from 1962 to 1966.

Personal life

Valencia was born in Popayán, Cauca on April 27, 1909, to Colombian poet and politician Guillermo Valencia, and his wife Josefina Muñoz. On January 31, 1931 he married Susana López Navia, a 20-year-old secretary with whom he had four children: Pedro Felipe, Alma, Ignacio, and Diana.

Political career

Valencia was elected to the city council of Popayán and the Assembly of Cauca. Later he was also elected to the City Council of Bogotá and worked as diplomat for Colombia to the United Nations and was appointed Colombia's Ambassador to Spain by President Laureano Gómez Castro. In 1949 he was appointed by President Mariano Ospina Pérez as Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs but declined the offer; Valencia however accepted to become Minister of Foreign Affairs on May 25, 1953 during the remainder of the administration of Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez until General Rojas Pinilla took over.

During the transitional government of the Military Junta that took power after the coup d'état that deposed General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, Valencia was considered to succeed the Junta, but as the political accords of the time prescribed, a member of the Colombian Liberal Party should succeed the Junta Militar, and thus, Valencia had to wait until the following election. Effectively, in 1962, Valencia was nominated by the Colombian Conservative Party as candidate for the presidency. During the elections of 1962, Valencia faced in opposition the liberal Alfonso López Michelsen, but won the election with 1,636,081 votes over the 625,630 votes received by López.

Presidency

Valencia committed his administration to substantial economic and social reforms. In the economic front he created the Junta Monetaria (Federal Reserve), doubled the production of electric power and promoted oil drilling and the export of crude oil. In matters of social reform, his administration increased the national budget for education by 20%, and under the auspice of the government of the United States, launched the construction of Ciudad Kennedy, a project of 200,000 affordable homes for lower income citizens.