Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves (; 7 July 1848 – 16 January 1919) was a Brazilian politician and statesman who served as the fifth president of Brazil, from 1902 to 1906. Alves was elected in 1902, becoming the third consecutive São Paulo native to hold the presidency. Before his presidency, he served as president of the province of São Paulo during the Empire of Brazil (1887) and as finance minister under Floriano Peixoto and Prudente de Morais in the 1890s.
During his term, Rodrigues Alves promoted a series of urban renewals and sanitation campaigns in Rio de Janeiro, then the Brazilian capital, which led to the outbreak of the Vaccine Revolt in 1904.
Rodrigues Alves was elected president for a second term in 1918, but died in the Spanish flu pandemic before assuming power, on 16 January 1919. He was succeeded by his vice-president, Delfim Moreira.
Early life
Rodrigues Alves was born in the city of Guaratinguetá, São Paulo. He graduated as a lawyer from the Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco, São Paulo, in 1870. His public career started as councilman in his native city, from 1866 to 1870. He became prosecutor in 1870. In 1872 he became a member of the state house of representatives until 1879, and became known for his views on education, which he believed should be compulsory and free. Also during the period of the Empire of Brazil, he took office as president of the province of São Paulo, from 1887 until 1888 as a conservative. Alves believed that the city's poor sanitation weakened the entire nation's communities and also ruined its image abroad. Rio de Janeiro's population had increased twofold, and the city had not been prepared to face the rapid spread of diseases. Families lived in a single house and rats and mosquitos were rampant. the plans drew skepticism from the public, who believed that he was squandering money and reviving the illusions that caused the Encilhamento. Few believed the plans could succeed.
Oswaldo Cruz had hardly announced his measures when strong opposition lined up against him, headed by groups of politicians and military officers who aimed to revive the idea of a military dictatorship. Local newspapers stirred up popular prejudice against him and his assistants, eager for scandal, and labelled them "mosquito swatters", while writers and journalists frequently satirised him. During his mayorship, the port of Rio de Janeiro was extended and the old blocks with their cortiços were demolished, displacing marginalized families while the workers were forced to the rural countryside, where transportation to their workplaces would cost more half or more of their daily salary. The residents were moved to the suburbs, which gave space for the enlargement of streets and new avenues.
Foreign Relations
Border disputes with Bolivia, Uruguay, British Guiana, and Dutch Guyana were resolved during his presidency by Alves' foreign minister José Maria da Silva Paranhos. In 1903 the Bolivian state of Acre was integrated into Brazil after a 4-year long border conflict between the two countries as the result of the Treaty of Petrópolis. (Though prior to its integration into Brazil there were two secessionist republics named the Republic of Acre) The treaty stated that in exchange for Brazil annexing Acre, 2 million pounds sterling would compensated to Bolivia by Brazil, and the latter would also build the Madeira-Mamoré Railroad.