Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez González, Duke of Suárez (born September 25, 1932) was Spain’s first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. He studied Law at the Complutense University in Madrid and held several government posts during the Francoist regime.
He became the Minister Secretary-general of the National Movement (Movimiento Nacional), that acted as the single party, for 18 years and following the death of Franco in late 1975. For this reason, centrist and leftist supporters opposed his appointment as President of the Government by King Juan Carlos I in July 1976. Suárez, as a nationalist, was chosen by the monarch to lead the country towards a democratic, parliamentary monarchy without annoying the powerful conservative factions (especially the military) in the country. Surprising many observers and political opponents, Suárez introduced Political Reform in 1976 as a first, decisive step in the Transition (Transición) to democracy.
In 1977 he led the Democratic Centre Union (Unión de Centro Democrático, UCD) to victory in Spain’s first free elections in 41 years, and became the first democratically elected Prime Minister after the Franco regime.
His centrist government instituted democratic reforms, and his coalition again won the 1979 elections under the new constitution. Less successful as a day-to-day organizer than as a crisis manager, he was replaced as premier in 1981. In 1982 he founded Democratic and Social Center (Centro Democrático y Social, CDS) party, which never achieved the success of UCD. He retired from active politics in 1991, for political party and family reasons.
Suárez won the “Príncipe de Asturias a la Concordia” award in September 1996, in recognition of his important personal contribution to Spanish democracy. The King of Spain made him Duke of Suárez in 1981.