Francisco I. Madero - Interim Presidency of Francisco León de La Barra, May–November 1911

Interim Presidency of Francisco León De La Barra, May–November 1911

Although Madero had forced Porfirio Díaz from power, he did not assume the presidency in June 1911. Instead, he pursued a moderate policy, leaving Francisco León de la Barra, one of Díaz's supporters, as president. He also left in place the Congress of Mexico, which was full of candidates whom Díaz had handpicked for the 1910 election.

Madero now called for the disbanding of all revolutionary forces, arguing that the revolutionaries should henceforth proceed solely by peaceful means. In the south, revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata was skeptical about disbanding his troops, but Madero traveled south to meet with Zapata at Cuernavaca and Cuautla, Morelos. Madero assured Zapata that the land redistribution promised in the Plan of San Luis Potosí would be carried out when Madero became president.

However, in Madero's absence, several landowners from Zapata's state of Morelos had appealed to President de la Barra and the Congress to restore their lands which had been seized by revolutionaries. They spread exaggerated stories of atrocities committed by Zapata's troops, calling Zapata the "Attila of the South." De la Barra and the Congress therefore decided to send troops under Victoriano Huerta to suppress Zapata's troops. Madero once again traveled south to urge Zapata to disband his troops peacefully, but Zapata refused on the grounds that Huerta's troops were advancing on Yautepec de Zaragoza. Zapata's suspicions proved accurate as Huerta's troops moved violently into Yautepec de Zaragoza. Madero wrote to De la Barra, saying that Huerta's actions were unjustified and recommending that Zapata's demands be met. However, when he left the south, he had achieved nothing. However, he promised the Zapatistas that once he became president, things would change. Most Zapatistas had grown suspicious of Madero, however.

Before becoming president, Madero published another book, this one under the pseudonym of Bhima (one of Arjuna's brothers in the Mahābhārata) called a Spiritualist Manual.