Jõao Goulart, 24th president of Brazil. Image courtesy of the Brazilian National Archive.
João Goulart in Brazil
On September 7, 1961, Jõao Goulart became the 24th president of Brazil when Janio Quadros resigned from office. After tense negotiation, more conservative political elements agreed to his inauguration, but his power was limited by a new parliamentary system of government. Goulart, seen as a radical reformist, was distrusted by the more conservative elements of Brazilian society, including many prominent military leaders. On April 1, 1964, Goulart’s term in office was cut short by a military coup d’état. Learn more about Goulart’s presidency and read a speech given by him only days before he was overthrown by military coup.
Kennedy and Goulart meet in Washington, D.C.
To see photos and memorabilia from his visit to the United States in 1962, go to Kennedy and Goulart. To read a 1962 telegram, “Background Information for Discussion with Ambassador Gordon,” click here.
Alliance for Progress
Read about Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps and their connection to Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek, or read a New York Times article on the Kennedy Administration’s foreign policy in Latin America.
Latin America Calls!
Interested in anti-communist propaganda and its relation to U.S. foreign policy in the Americas, Latin America Calls! was a Catholic publication that wrote extensively about the extent of communist influence in Brazil in the years leading up to 1964. Read William Janover’s paper on Latin America Calls!
Cover of Brazil and the Quiet Intervention, 1964 by Phyllis R. Parker. Image courtesy of University of Texas Press
The U.S. Government and the Coup
On April 1, 1964, a military coup, organized with tacit support from U.S. Ambassador Lincoln Gordon and secretly backed by U.S. naval troops, overthrew Goulart.
The next day in a telephone exchange between Thomas Mann, assistant secretary of state for inter- American affairs, and President Johnson, Mann commented: “I hope you’re as happy about Brazil as I am.” To which the president replied, “I am.” Mann continued, “I think that’s the most important thing that’s happened in the hemisphere in three years.” Johnson concurred, “I hope they give us some credit, instead of hell.” Johnson got his wish. The new military government quickly aligned itself with Washington, and Brazilian nationalists and left- wing critics immediately credited the United States with having masterminded the coup.
Read about U.S. involvement in the 1964 coup, a news conference following the coup with Secretary of State Dean Rusk, an interview with Gordon from the LBJ Library, or a transcript of a meeting between President John F. Kennedy and Gordon.
Castelo Branco: First President of the Military Dictatorship
Castelo Branco, image courtesy of Wikipedia
Castelo Branco (full name: Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco) was the first president of Brazil’s military dictatorship, a leader of the 1964 military coup against the democratically elected João Goulart (1961-1964), and a career military officer. Click here to read more about Branco.