When Juscelino first presented his campaign platform for presidency, he said that he did not believe it would be possible to transfer the capital to the central plateau in less than fifteen years. He added: “This is a task for a whole generation.” But he declared that he would be able to begin this work, if he had the support of congress. As opposed to other candidates, who campaigned mostly in the big cities, Juscelino decided to start his campaign in the small towns, in the interior of the country. At one of his first encounters with voters, during his opening campaign rally, he was asked if, once elected, he would transfer the capital to the interior of the country. This was in the town of Jataí on April 4, 1955. It rained heavily and the rally had been transferred from a public square to the big room of a local Studbaker car dealer. For this reason, the number of people who attended the rally was not as large as he had expected. So, at the end of his speech, Juscelino decided to take questions from the audience. At that occasion, Antônio Soares Neto, also known as Toniquinho ("litte Tony"), posed a question about the transfer of the capital. In his speech, Juscelino had stressed that instilling more respect for the constitution and the laws was one way to overcome the political problems that Brazil faced. The general of the three branches of military and President of the Republic, João Café Filho, exerted enormous pressure on Juscelino. His government had even informed Juscelino that, if he were elected, he would not be allowed to assume the presidency. This warning did not seem to be made in vain. Café Filho, formerly the vice President, had taken over the presidency of the country after Getúlio Vargas’ death, which may have been provoked by the same forces that were now opposing Juscelino. The circumstances of the fall of Vargas were in fact a repetition of his own previous success, when Getúlio had to hand the presidential office over to Vargas after a successful coup d’état that had been planned by the same group. This group considered the candidacy of Juscelino a “return to the past.” It therefore seemed unlikely that Juscelino could become President without the consent of this powerful group. Juscelino knew that this group did not support him but he decided to launch his candidacy anyway and to overcome the objections and resistance in this group gradually. His speech on respect for the law and constitution reflected what he really thought and felt, but the declaration also suited well his campaign. However, his own words now turned against him. Toniquinho insisted to know if the candidate, who spoke so solemnly about the respect for the constitution, would transfer, once elected, the capital to the central plateau as the constitution stipulated. There was no way out for the candidate, and he promised to transfer the capital. Juscelino was not a man who used to make promises and to forget them easily afterwards. He could have, of course, started the construction of Brasília and leave the larger part of its construction to his successors. He had even considered mentioning this hypothesis in his campaign. Many people advised him against building the capital within one term, arguing that this task was too much for one President. In truth, nobody thought it might be possible to build a capital in the middle of the Sertão (arid inland region) in four years, with no access roads, without design yet and without funds. Even the most enthusiastic people regarded this idea as unfeasible in such a short period of time. But, after Jataí, Juscelino began to examine this subject more thoroughly and became very enthusiastic. As his campaign went on, he felt that the transfer of the Capital to the interior was a widely shared desire among the people. He considered the consequences of the transfer. He became convinced of one thing: either the capital would be transferred during one presidential term, or the construction would never be completed.