According to Miguel Civeira Taboada, his purpose in writing this study was to focus attention on the role of Benito Juárez as a member and supporter of the Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística. Working from hitherto unknown documents discovered in the society’s archives, Taboada catalogues the various official actions of Juárez, first as governor of Oaxaca, then as president of Mexico, in which he performed the functions of a chief executive dealing with a semiofficial body. The documents consist of about six or eight official orders of Juárez concerning the society. Perhaps his most significant contribution to its success was his order that the society be reorganized in 1867 after the collapse of the Second Empire and the reestablishment of the Republic.
Such skimpy documentation would hardly merit a study of this length, had not the author also brought in a detailed and copiously documented history of the society during the four decades of Juárez’ public life. Of particular interest to students of Mexican polities is the description of the manner in which Generals Mariano Arista and Juan N. Almonte used the society in their attempts to gain political power.
