Ernesto Geisel

Son of German Lutheran immigrants, Geisel rose through artillery ranks and entered politics in 1964 as Chief of the Military House under President Castelo Branco, who promoted him to Army General in 1966. He ran Petrobras during the Médici government while his brother Orlando served as Minister of the Army - Orlando's backing secured Médici's choice of Ernesto as the regime's next candidate. He won the 1974 election with 84% in a controlled vote and took office on March 15, 1974. His tenure redrew the map (merging Guanabara into Rio de Janeiro, splitting Mato Grosso), opened diplomatic ties with China and newly independent Angola, signed nuclear deals with West Germany, and pushed forward the Itaipu dam. But the real work was subtler: a gradual political thaw, a softening of repression, and in his final year the repeal of AI-5, the decree that had given the dictatorship its widest powers. After leaving office he backed the opposition candidate Tancredo Neves in 1985, smoothing the military's exit from power.