Manuel Amador Guerrero

Who is Manuel Amador Guerrero?

Manuel Amador Guerrero was a physician and statesman who became the first president of the Republic of Panama. Born in Turbaco, in what was then the Colombian department of Bolívar, he trained as a surgeon and graduated in 1854 before moving to Panama in 1855, where he settled in Colón and worked in connection with the Panama Railroad and later as a physician in Panama City. He entered politics as a Conservative and was named president of the department of Panama in 1867, though unrest prevented him from taking office. In 1903 he traveled to the United States to seek support for Panamanian independence from Colombia, a movement that succeeded that same year following the failure of the Herrán-Hay Treaty in the Colombian senate. On 20 February 1904 the constitutional convention elected him the new republic's first president, a role he held until 1908. His administration established the gold-backed Balboa as Panama's official currency at par with the US dollar and negotiated early terms with the United States over the developing Panama Canal Zone. Panama's highest civilian honor, the Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero, is named for him.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Manuel Amador Guerrero" · Wikipedia, "Manuel Amador Guerrero"