United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution
| United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Mexican Revolution | |||||
 Aftermath of Pancho Villa's attack on Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916 |
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| Belligerents | |||||
 United States
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Huertistas
Villistas Constitutionalistas Carrancistas Maderistas |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||
Woodrow Wilson John J. Pershing Frank Friday Fletcher
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Victoriano Huerta Pancho Villa Alvaro Obregon Venustiano Carranza Francisco Madero |
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The United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution was varied and seemingly contradictory, first supporting and then repudiating Mexican regimes during the period 1910-1920. For both economic and political reasons, the U.S. government generally supported those who occupied the seats of power, whether they held that power legitimately or not. A clear exception was the French Intervention in Mexico, when the U.S. supported the beleaguered liberal government of Benito Juárez. Prior to Woodrow Wilson's inauguration on March 4, 1913, the U.S. Government focused on just warning the Mexican military that decisive action from the U.S. military would take place if lives and property of U.S. nationals living in the country were endangered. President William Howard Taft sent more troops to the US-Mexico border but did not allow them to intervene in the conflict, a move which Congress opposed. Twice during the Revolution, the U.S. sent troops into Mexico.
The U.S. recognized the government of Porfirio Díaz in 1878, two years after Díaz's coup d'état brought him to power. Díaz's long rule of Mexico brought close economic cooperation between the two countries, especially since Díaz imposed political order that allowed business to flourish. In 1908, however, Díaz gave an interview to a U.S. journalist, James Creelman, in which Díaz stated he would not run for re-election in 1910; the statement gave rise to politicking of potential candidates. Díaz reversed himself, ran for re-election, and jailed the leading opposition candidate, Francisco I. Madero. Mexican revolutionaries prior to the 1910 events had sought refuge on the U.S. side of the border, a pattern Madero continued. He escaped Mexico and took refuge in San Antonio, Texas and called for nullification of the 1910 elections, himself as provisional president, and revolutionary support from the Mexican people. His Plan of San Luis Potosí did spark revolutionary uprisings, particularly in Mexico's north. The U.S. stayed out of the unfolding events until March 6, 1911, when President William Howard Taft mobilized forces on the U.S.-Mexico border. "In effect this was an intervention in Mexican politics, and to Mexicans it meant the United States had condemned Díaz.
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