1956

President-Elect of the Republic.

Even after JK had been elected President by popular vote, the opposition still attempted to nullify the election. Opposition circles tried to overthrow the government in a coup d’état. However, a faction in the military, under the lead of General Lott, secured that the election results were respected . JK took office on January 31, 1956. The military would play an important role for the political stability throughout JK’s administration.

JK was a leader entirely identified with his objectives of autonomous development, industrialization, and democracy for Brazil. He worked to realize the ideas that he considered basic components of economic and social development. Progress was the main characteristic of his government. The Plano de Metas (Target Plan) followed the goal to achieve “fifty years of development in five years of government.”
In its essence, this plan was intended to “accelerate the process of capital accumulation thus augmenting the productivity of investment in manufacturing.” In total, there were thirty targets and one additional “comprehensive target” (“meta síntese”): Brasília. These targets can be grouped under six big headlines:

(I) Energy generation;
(II) Transportation;
(III) Food;
(IV) Industrial base;
(V) Education; and
(VI) Comprehensive target.

The Target Plan was a far-reaching success. Only some targets were not fully achieved.

All in all, JK lead a dynamic administration during his term, which did not accept impositions by any means. His administration even clashed with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) in 1959 because of monetary policies that the IMF intended to require from the Brazilian government. JK left the President’s office on January 31, 1961, and passed the presidential powers on to his successor, Jânio da Silva Quadros.