José Manuel Balmaceda Fernández (1840-1891) was the last of the strong 19th-century presidents of Chile. His personality and policies provoked a constitutional crisis between Congress and the presidency and led to a civil war.

José Balmaceda was born in Santiago, Chile. He was destined for the Church but entered politics instead as a liberal reformer. In 1878, after gaining a reputation as an orator and a forceful politician, he was sent as Chilean envoy to Buenos Aires, where his diplomatic skill helped to keep Argentina from joining Peru and Bolivia against Chile in the War of the Pacific. He then was made minister of foreign affairs and of the interior, and in 1886 he became president of Chile.

Balmaceda's presidency was one of the stormiest in Chilean history. Despite the instability of his cabinets and the turbulence of opposing congressional factions, Balmaceda carried through an energetic...