Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Fernando Henrique Cardoso (born June 18, 1931) was the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil from January 1, 1995 to January 1, 2003.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, he has lived in São Paulo most of his life. Cardoso is married (wife Ruth Cardoso) and has 3 children. Trained as a sociologist, he was a Professor of Political Science and Sociology at Universidade de São Paulo.
He was President of the International Sociology Association (ISA), from 1982 to 1986.
He became a member of the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), a honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and penned several books.

He was also Associated Director of Studies in the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris and then visiting professor at the Collège de France and later at the Paris-Nanterre University. He also lectured at American universities including Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. After his presidency, he was appointed to a five-year term as professor-at-large at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies, beginning in 2003.

Cardoso founded the Party of the Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB), in 1988 and led this party in the Senate until October 1992. From October 1992 to May 1993, he served as minister of foreign affairs under President Itamar Franco. From May 1993 until April 1994, he was minister of finance.

As minister of finance, Cardoso introduced the Plano Real (Real Plan) to end hyperinflation. Buoyed by the success of the Plano Real, Cardoso was elected president in the first round of elections, on October 3, 1994.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso was re-elected on October 4, 1998 with approximately 53% of the vote, while his closest challenger, Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), had about 32%.

(left) with outgoing President Cardoso (right)

Cardoso was succeeded in 2003 by Lula da Silva, after his fourth run for the presidency. Da Silva won in the runoff against the candidate José Serra. Da Silva's election has been seen as a sign of Cardoso's growing unpopularity in his second term.

FHC (as he was sometimes called) was elected with the support of a heterodox alliance of his own center-left Social Democratic Party, the PSDB, and two center-right parties, the Liberal Front Party (PFL) and the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB). Brazil's largest party, the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), joined Cardoso's governing coalition after the election, as did the center-right PPB, the Brazilian Progressive Party, in 1996.
Party loyalty is weak, and deputies and senators who belong to the parties comprising the government coalition do not always vote with the government.
As a result, President Cardoso had difficulty, at times, gaining sufficient support for some of his legislative priorities, despite the fact that his coalition parties hold an overwhelming majority of congressional seats. Nevertheless, the Cardoso administration accomplished many of its legislative and reform objectives.

Before, he was elected Senator of the state of São Paulo for the former MDB, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (Brazilian Democratic Movement), in 1978. Re-elected in 1986 for the PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party), which substituted MDB after Brazilian re-democratization.

Honors

Foreign Awards and Honors