Café Filho

Who was Café Filho?

João Fernandes Campos Café Filho was a Brazilian politician. Born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state, Café Filho was a journalist and federal deputy, elected vice-president in 1950, under Getúlio Vargas. Following the Vargas suicide in 1954, Café Filho assumed the presidency. Two months before the end of his term, he temporarily withdrew from leadership of the government, citing poor health. Later he tried to resume his post, but was prevented from doing so by the Congress and the military, who suspected that he would not allow the president-elect Juscelino Kubitschek to take the oath of office. An Evangelical Christian, he was the first Protestant to become President of Brazil and the first President of Brazil to be born a citizen of the República Velha.