The Napoleon of the West

It can take up to two breaths to get through his full name. He served as President of Mexico eleven different times, and not consecutively either. He was the man who took out the Alamo, but would later be ahead of his time as a pioneer in the chewing gum industry. He loved cock fighting. He was exiled and allowed back into his home country multiple times before finally earning the everlasting scorn of his nation. He is Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, better know in American history as simply, Santa Anna.

His place in Spanish and Mexican history is a little complicated. Anytime you serve as President eleven different times, and at one point upon election declare yourself "Most Serene Highness", that's bound to happen. In America, he's known as the Mexican general and dictator who took out those brave souls fighting for Texas independence at the Alamo. He would win that battle, but would ultimately lose the war, being routed at the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas would gain its independence. Under Santa Anna's rule, vast amounts of Mexican territory were lost, mostly to the US. Eventually the people of Mexico had enough of him, and he was exiled to Cuba and later lived in the US, but more on that to come. If you want to know more about Santa Ann's complicated time as a big-time player in Mexican politics, I encourage you to do some self research. Trust me, you won't not be disappointed. He was an eccentric fellow, and his life never wanted for drama.

I have two personal favorite anecdotes that are just so classically Santa Anna. One comes from this thing called the "Pastry War" (yeah)which was this little squabble Mexico had with France. Anyway, Santa Anna, fresh off his defeat and return of the US was given command of the Mexican Army and was wounded during a retreat by shrapnel to the leg. The damage was bad enough that it caused the amputation of the limb. Being Santa Anna, he decided and subsequently ordered the leg to be buried....with full military honors. A leg. I don't know how one would've kept a straight face at that ceremony. I imagine it was a bit like Susie's funeral in Seinfeld (Susie you may remember was a non-existent employee at J. Peterman). After that he used a prosthetic leg which US troops captured in the Mexican American War and that particular leg is actually on display still today in a museum in Illinois.

The final story comes from the end of Santa Anna's life. He was living in Staten Island, NY, where most former dictators retire to, and was trying to raise the funds to raise an army and retake Mexico City. At the time, he was seventy-four. His master plan? He brought a bunch of chicle to the US, which is the base for chewing gum. He tried to use it as rubber for carriage tires and thus sell it to various vendors for the same use. In short, that was a massive failure. But, his secretary at the time was a guy named Thomas Adams. He recognized chicle for a broader purpose, and invented Chiclets...chewing gum. Adams would letter join up with some guy named Wrigley to mass market the product. So, maybe Santa Anna wasn't exactly a pioneer in the chewing gum business, but his failure inspired his secretary to found the industry. So, credit the man for that.

So that is a brief overview of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (that's the version of his name he used as his full name). Again, his time as President, General, ruler, dictator of Mexico was vastly more complex than the small portion I hit on here. I just wanted to point out some examples of his more hilarious eccentricities. Any guy who admired Napoleon and tried to collect Napoleonic memorabilia with such passion that he garnered the nickname "The Napoleon of the West" is bound to have a few strange qualities, and a giant ego.