Benito Juárez

A Zapotec indigenous man from Oaxaca who became Mexico's first indigenous president and guided the nation through the War of Reform and the French Intervention, Juárez is the most universally revered figure in Mexican history and the model for the concept of liberal democratic Mexico that subsequent leaders have invoked. His maxim "El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" — Respect for others' rights is peace — is the most quoted political aphorism in Mexican public life.