Background
Felipe Calderon is the second democratically elected president of the country of Mexico. He was elected during the 2006 National Election as the prime candidate for presidency representing the PAN—otherwise known as the Partido Accion Nacional or National Action Party. His father was one of the co-founders of PAN (Reyes, 2006). During Felipe Calderon’s childhood, he used to help PAN’s campaigns, particularly in his father’s political campaigns. He hurled pamphlets and flyers, rode campaign vehicles and uttered political slogans.
He was able to acquire a bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Economics and also in Public Administration. He instinctively followed his father’s footsteps. He entered politics and became the president of PAN’s youth movement—this happened somewhere in his 20s. In 1993, he became PAN’s general secretary. Three years after that, he became the organizational president until 1999.
He became more deeply involved in politics in the following years. He became the leader of PAN’s Chamber of Deputies; he also served as the minister of energy. These events describe his overall political and educational background.
Politics
The purpose of this section is to gauge Felipe Calderon’s performance and effectiveness in handling his position ever since he became Mexico’s democratically-elected president.
Economics. Calderon focused on creating new quality jobs for Mexican citizens, reducing poverty, and protecting and raising the standard of living of Mexican citizens. Overall, he and his administration have worked hard enough to retain the country’s position as the country having the 11th largest GDP (based on purchasing power-parity) in the world (Thomas White, 2011). It has also done a good job in encouraging and attracting both and foreign investors to invest in the country. The result is a more diversified economy. Felipe Calder is best known for his efforts and programs promoting free trade. It is also evident how he and his administration try to minimize the effects of the instabilities in the Middle East and the fast-changing oil prices on Mexico’s economy.
Healthcare Policy. One of Calderon’s administration’s primary focuses is to be able to provide adequate and quality healthcare for its citizens, regardless of their class. They call it Universal Healthcare Coverage program. Under such program, numerous health infrastructures were built in strategic locations, and more and more people have been given access to healthcare which during the reign of the previous administration was scarce. Healthcare and medication costs dropped dramatically, down to a point where some in-demand medicines were already being distributed to the public for free.
Environmental Policy. Felipe Calderon’s administration’s environmental policies generally focused on domestic issues such as deforestation, and overreliance to non-renewable resources such as oil, natural gas and coal. Theoretically, the administration’s first step was to increase the public’s awareness about the possible effects of deforestation and overreliance to these energy sources to the country, its economy, and the environment. The government, aiming to encourage more and more investors to invest in the production of greener and renewable energy sources, has invested approximately 2.5 billion USD in wind farms. It has also started numerous tree-planting projects and has, as of now, planted over 8 million trees throughout the country.
Conclusion
Based on the focuses of his administration and the results of the programs it launched relating to environmental policy, economy, and healthcare policy, it is clear that Felipe Calderon, despite the issues that almost hindered him from taking his oath in the past 2006 national elections, is an effective president and leader.
Works Cited
Reyes, M. (2006). La Jornada Del Candidato Anticipado. BBC Mundo.
Thomas White. (2011). Emerging Leaders: Felipe Calderon hinojosa, president, Mexico. Thomas White – Global Investing Emerging Leaders Archieves.
