José Mariano Salas

José Mariano Salas Barbosa (11 May 1797 – 24 December 1867) was a Mexican soldier and politician who served twice as interim president of Mexico, once in 1846, during the Mexican American War, and once in 1859 during the War of Reform.

He was a known partisan of Santa Anna, and his first presidency which occurred during the Mexican-American War involved Salas serving as interim president for Santa Anna, after the overthrow of Mariano Paredes, while Santa Anna returned from an exile. Nonetheless, Salas still governed for a few months and energetically passed measures to unite the country and promote the war effort. At Santa Anna's behest, Salas also restored the Constitution of 1824, thus ending the Centralist Republic of Mexico which had been in effect since 1835.

His second presidency during the Reform War was much less eventful. After an election, he was assigned to the post while president-elect Miguel Miramon arrived and only remained in power for a few days. As the Second Mexican Empire was being established in 1863, the Assembly of Notables elected him as part of the executive triumvirate that invited Maximilian of Habsburg to take the throne. Provided by Wikipedia