Felipe Calderón: Elected President, Not "Picked" by Mexico

Mexico did not "pick" Felipe Calderón as leader in an appointive sense. He won the 2006 Mexican general election in a fiercely contested, historic democratic process.

The 2006 Election

• Candidates: Felipe Calderón (PAN – National Action Party), Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD – Party of the Democratic Revolution), Roberto Madrazo (PRI – Institutional Revolutionary Party).
• Result: Calderón: 35.89% (15,000,284 votes); López Obrador: 35.31% (14,756,350 votes). Margin: 0.58% (~234,000 votes).
• Controversy: López Obrador alleged fraud, demanded full recount, led massive protests ("plantón" on Paseo de la Reforma). Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) upheld result after partial recount.
• Inauguration: December 1, 2006, amid opposition boycott; Calderón took oath amid shouts in Congress.

Presidency (2006–2012)

Defined by:
• War on Drugs: Deployed 50,000+ military; 100,000+ deaths; cartels fragmented but violence soared.
• Economy: 2008 crisis hit hard; recovered with orthodox policies; created 2M+ formal jobs (IMSS).
• Health: Seguro Popular expanded coverage to 50M uninsured.
• Energy: Failed to pass constitutional reform (Pemex).

Calderón's legitimacy derives from electoral victory under Mexico's constitutional framework, certified by its independent tribunal—not from a designation by elites or a junta.