Isabel Richard

Isabel Richard de Batlle (born 1785, El Cabo, DS; died 1854, Faro, DS) was the 4th president of the Ardisphere, serving two and a half terms from 1838-1850. She was originally Prime Minister under her predecessor, Efraín García, and succeeded to the presidency when he died unexpectedly in office, resulting in a constitutional crisis since the original constitution had failed to determine who would occupy the presidency in the event of a president's death. In fact, however, Richard as Prime Minister had already established herself as the "power behind the throne" and thus she successfully manipulated the Congress into accepting her accession. These facts combined mean that in fact, Richard was by far the longest-serving political leader in the history of the Ardisphere, because she controlled the levers of government for two decades. Some historians have referred to this period as the "dictablanda richardiana" (Richardian soft dictatorship). In fact, she had, through her husband, the military leader Mateo Batlle, founded the Partido Liberal in 1824, and inherited his position in the Congress upon his death in 1828. Along with the founder of the Federation, José Errázuriz, and the civil war president, Ángel Keum, she is considered one of the greatest 19th century presidents of the Ardisphere.

See Also

• Presidents of the Ardisphere