Editing Vicente Fox

{{Short description|President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=June 2024|1=The lead consists of important information not included in the body, such as his presidential economic and foreign policy and expulsion from PAN. The presidency section mostly consists of public image and legacy summaries without policy elaboration and features a bulleted list which could be written as plain text. The lead also fails to summarize his pre-presidential life.}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Fox (surname)|Fox]]|[[Quesada (surname)|Quesada]]|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| order               = 62nd
| office              = President of Mexico
| image               = Vicente Fox Official Photo 2000 (Cropped) (b).jpg
| image_size          = 
| caption             = Official portrait, 2000
| term_start          = 1 December 2000
| term_end            = 30 November 2006
| predecessor         = [[Ernesto Zedillo]]
| successor           = [[Felipe Calderón]]
| office2             = [[Governor of Guanajuato]]
| term_start2         = 26 June 1995
| term_end2           = 7 August 1999
| predecessor2        = [[Carlos Medina Plascencia]]
| successor2          = [[Ramón Martín Huerta]]
| office3             = Member of the [[Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)|Chamber of Deputies]] <br /> for [[Guanajuato]]'s 3rd district
| term_start3         = 1 September 1988
| term_end3           = 31 August 1991
| predecessor3        = [[Héctor Hugo Varela Flores]]
| successor3          = Luis Arturo Torres del Valle
| office4             = Co–President of [[Centrist Democrat International]]
| term_start4         = 1 December 2006
| term_end4           = 
| predecessor4        = [[Pier Ferdinando Casini]]
| successor4          = 
| birth_name          = Vicente Fox Quesada
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1942|7|2|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Mexico City]], Mexico
| parents             = José Luis Fox<br />Mercedes Quesada
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Lilian de la Concha|1969|1990|reason=divorce}}
* {{marriage|[[Marta Sahagún]]|2001}}
}}
| children            = Ana Cristina Fox<br />Rodrigo Fox<br />Paulina Fox<br />Vicente Fox Jr.
| education           = [[Universidad Iberoamericana]] ([[Bachelor of Business Administration|BBA]])
| occupation          = Businessman, politician
| party               = [[Independent politician|Independent]] (since 2013)
| signature           = Vicente Fox Signature.svg
| otherparty          = [[National Action Party (Mexico)|National Action Party]]<br>(until 2013)
}}
'''Vicente Fox Quesada''' ({{IPA|es-419|biˈsente ˈfoks keˈsaða|lang}}; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd [[president of Mexico]] from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]],<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield Publishers">{{cite book|author1=Vincent Mosco|author2=Dan Schiller|title=Continental Order?: Integrating North America for Cybercapitalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nxay5BZnNDIC&pg=PA110|year=2001|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|pages=111|isbn=9780742509542}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com.mx">{{cite book|author1=Charles Hauss|title=Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Da9EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA391|pages=391|isbn=9781337554800|date=1 January 2018|publisher=Cengage Learning }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.proceso.com.mx/236212/el-populismo-de-derecha|title=El populismo de derecha|date=10 September 2004|publisher=Proceso|access-date=4 March 2018|language=es|archive-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707025728/https://www.proceso.com.mx/236212/el-populismo-de-derecha|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/2000/07/04/opinion/962661602_850215.html|title=Revolución en México|date=4 July 2000|newspaper=El País|access-date=4 March 2018|language=es}}</ref> Fox was elected president on the [[National Action Party (Mexico)|National Action Party]] (PAN) ticket in the [[2000 Mexican general election|2000 election]]. He became the first president not from the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (PRI) since 1929, and the first elected from an opposition party since [[Francisco I. Madero]] in 1911. Fox won the election with 43 percent of the vote.<ref name="bbc-election-2000">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/815359.stm|title=End of era for all-powerful party|last=Milner|first=Kate|date=2 July 2000|work=BBC News|access-date=28 November 2008}}</ref>

As president, Fox continued the [[neoliberal]] economic policies his predecessors from the PRI had adopted since the 1980s.<ref>{{cite book|title = The Lost Sexenio: Vicente Fox and the New Politics of Economic Reform in Mexico|author = Manuel Pastor Jr.|pages = 136}}</ref> The first half of his administration saw a further shift of the federal government to the right,<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield Publishers"/><ref name="books.google.com.mx"/> strong relations with the United States and [[George W. Bush]],<ref>{{
cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030202221.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=Con Estados Unidos a una sana distancia | date=3 March 2006 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> unsuccessful attempts to introduce a [[value-added tax]] to medicines and build an airport in [[Texcoco, State of Mexico|Texcoco]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-vicente-foxs-rocky-first-year-president-mexico-2001dec13-story.html|title=Vicente Fox's rocky first year as president of Mexico|date=13 December 2001|newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune|access-date=10 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2002/08/02/016n1pol.php?origen=index.html|title=La Jornada Virtu@l|date=n.d.|website=jornada.com.mx|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> and a diplomatic conflict with Cuban leader [[Fidel Castro]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldpress.org/Americas/518.cfm|title=Cuba - Castaneda - Mexico - Castro - Worldpress.org|date=n.d.|website=worldpress.org|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> The murder of human rights lawyer [[Digna Ochoa]] in 2001 called into question the Fox administration's commitment to breaking with the authoritarian past of the PRI era.

The second half of his administration was marked by his conflict with [[Andrés Manuel López Obrador]], the [[Head of Government of Mexico City|Mayor of Mexico City]]. The PAN and Fox administration [[Desafuero of Manuel López Obrador|unsuccessfully attempted to remove López Obrador from office]] and prevent him from participating in the [[2006 Mexican general election|2006 presidential elections]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/opinion/07thu2.html |title=Let Mexico's Voters Decide |work=The New York Times |author=Editorial Desk |date=7 April 2005 |access-date=16 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410232010/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/opinion/07thu2.html |archive-date=10 April 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28426-2005Apr5.html |title=Decision on Democracy |newspaper= The Washington Post |author=Editorial desk |date=6 April 2005 |access-date=15 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112203531/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28426-2005Apr5.html |archive-date=12 November 2012 }}</ref> The Fox administration also became embroiled with [[2005 Mexico–Venezuela diplomatic crisis|diplomatic conflicts with Venezuela]] and [[Bolivia]] after supporting the creation of the [[Free Trade Area of the Americas]], which was opposed by those two countries.<ref name=WSJFox>O'Grady, Mary Anastasia. Why Fox's Outrage? Chavez's Meddling in Mexico. ''The Wall Street Journal''. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: 18 November 2005. pg. A.17</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4453738.stm |title=Chavez renews trade pact attack|date=20 November 2005|access-date=15 February 2019|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> His last year in office oversaw the [[Controversies of the 2006 Mexican general election|controversial 2006 elections]], where PAN candidate [[Felipe Calderón]] was declared winner by a narrow margin over López Obrador,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/373197.html |title=Proponen magistrados declarar Presidente electo a Calderón |last1=Avilés |first1=Carlos |last2=Zárate |first2=Arturo |date=5 September 2006 |website=El Universal |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=28 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328231128/http://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/373197.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> who claimed the elections had been fraudulent and refused to recognize the results, calling for protests across the country.<ref>[http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/141694.html "Se opone al plantón 65% en DF: encuesta"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206165451/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/141694.html |date=6 February 2012 }}. Carlos Ordóñez, ''[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]],'' 14 August 2006.</ref> In the same year, there was civil unrest in [[Oaxaca]], where a teacher's strike culminated into [[2006 Oaxaca protests|protests and violent clashes]] asking for the resignation of governor [[Ulises Ruiz Ortiz]],<ref name = denham>{{cite book|title = Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca|editor = Diana Denham and the C.A.S.A. Collective}}</ref> and in the [[State of Mexico]] during the [[2006 civil unrest in San Salvador Atenco|San Salvador Atenco riots]], where the state and federal governments were later found guilty by the [[Inter-American Court of Human Rights]] of human rights violations during the violent repression.<ref>{{cite news |title=Historic Judgment of Inter-American Court Orders Mexico to Punish Repression and Torture in Atenco |url=https://centroprodh.org.mx/2018/12/21/historic-judgment-of-inter-american-court-orders-mexico-to-punish-repression-and-torture-in-atenco/?lang=en |access-date=7 May 2022 |work=CEJIL |date=21 December 2018}}</ref> On the other hand, Fox was credited with maintaining economic growth and reducing the poverty rate from 43.7% in 2000 to 35.6% in 2006.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.milenio.com/politica/combate_pobreza_gobierno_Pena-cifras_pobreza_Mexico_Prospera_Solidaridad_0_563943961.html | work=Milenio | title=Solidaridad, Oportunidades y Prospera no disminuyeron la pobreza| date=7 July 2015 | access-date=9 March 2018 | language=es}}</ref>

After his presidency, Fox returned to his home state of [[Guanajuato]]. He has been involved in public speaking and the development of the [[Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum]].<ref>es:[http://centrofox.org.mx/ CentroFox.org.mx]</ref> He is currently the co-president of the [[Centrist Democrat International]], an international organization of centre-right political parties.<ref name="cdi">{{cite web |date=n.d. |title=Who's Who |url=http://www.cdi-idc.com/subsubpagina.php?hoofdmenuID=1&submenuID=2&subsubmenuID=48 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234055/http://www.cdi-idc.com/subsubpagina.php?hoofdmenuID=1&submenuID=2&subsubmenuID=48 |archive-date=2 December 2013 |access-date=4 February 2019 |website=cdi-idc.com |publisher=CDI-IDC}}</ref> Fox was expelled from the PAN in 2013, after having endorsed the PRI presidential candidate, [[Enrique Peña Nieto]], in the [[Mexican general election, 2012|2012 elections]].<ref>[archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/203190.html archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/203190.html] </ref> In the [[2018 Mexican general election|2018 election]], Fox endorsed the PRI candidate, [[José Antonio Meade]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Delgado |first1=Alvaro |title=Fox reitera su apoyo a Meade y afirma que no respaldará a Anaya |url=https://www.proceso.com.mx/529035/fox-reitera-su-apoyo-a-meade-y-afirma-que-no-respaldara-a-anaya |access-date=27 June 2018 |publisher=Proceso |date=8 April 2018 |archive-date=27 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627034520/https://www.proceso.com.mx/529035/fox-reitera-su-apoyo-a-meade-y-afirma-que-no-respaldara-a-anaya |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Early years ==
Vicente Fox Quesada was born on 2 July 1942 in [[Mexico City]], the second of nine children. His father, José Luis Fox Pont, was a native-born Mexican of [[German Americans|German-American]] descent.<ref>{{cite news |last=Martínez |first=Fabiola |date=1 September 2006 |title=Indagará PGR origen de un acta de nacimiento del padre de Fox |url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/09/01/017n2pol.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604102336/http://www.laprensalatina.com/?p=579 |archive-date=4 June 2008 |access-date=4 June 2007 |newspaper=El periódico de México}}</ref> His mother, Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was a [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Spanish Basque]] immigrant from [[San Sebastián]], [[Gipuzkoa]]. Fox's family name was originally ''Fuchs'', but was [[Anglicisation of names|anglicized]] to "Fox" at some point. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Louis Fuchs, was born in [[Cincinnati]] in 1865, attended Woodward High School and moved to Mexico at age 32.

Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in [[San Francisco del Rincón]] in [[Guanajuato]]. He spent a year at [[Campion High School]] in [[Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin]] where he learned English.<ref name="QuesadaAllyn2007">{{cite book|author1=Vicente Fox Quesada|author2=Rob Allyn|title=Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLDDf9vi-esC&pg=PA47|year=2007|publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-01839-0|pages=47–}}</ref> Upon reaching college age, Fox moved to Mexico City to attend the [[Universidad Iberoamericana]] and received a bachelor's degree in [[business administration]] in 1964. Then in 1974, Fox received a certificate in management skills from [[Harvard Business School]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Vicente Fox|url=http://www.clubmadrid.org/en/miembro/vicente_fox|access-date=27 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121142347/http://www.clubmadrid.org/en/miembro/vicente_fox|archive-date=21 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-01-25-0101250188-story.html|title=- Several articles about Mexican President Vicente...|first=Chicago|last=Tribune|date=n.d.|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2017/01/08/fox-a-self-made-man-known-for-tart-tongue/|title=Fox a self-made man known for tart tongue|date=8 January 2017|website=Boston Herald|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>

===Business career===
In 1964, Fox was hired by [[the Coca-Cola Company]] as a route supervisor and drove a delivery truck. After nine years, he had risen to the top, serving as the President and Chief Executive of Coca-Cola Mexico; after six years in this role, he was invited to lead all of Coca-Cola's operations in Latin America, but Fox declined and later resigned from Coca-Cola in 1979.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reding|first=Andrew|date=Fall 1996|title=The Next Mexican Revolution|journal=World Policy Journal|volume=13|pages=63|via=ProQuest Central}}</ref> It was during the Fox's leadership of Coca-Cola Mexico that Coke became Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing Coca-Cola's sales by almost 50%.<ref name="milner">{{cite news|last=Milner|first=Kate|title=Profile: Vicente Fox|publisher=BBC|date=3 July 2000|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/813206.stm|access-date=4 June 2007}}</ref>

After retiring from Coca-Cola, Fox began to participate in various public activities in Guanajuato, where he created the "Patronato de la Casa Cuna Amigo Daniel", an orphanage. He was also the president of the Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the [[León, Guanajuato|León]] campus of the [[Universidad Iberoamericana]] and of the Lux Institute.<ref name=UNbio>[http://www.un.int/Mexico/biography_Fox.htm Biography of Vicente Fox] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918011100/http://www.un.int/Mexico/biography_Fox.htm |date=18 September 2012 }}</ref>

===Family life===
In 1969, Fox married Lilian de la Concha, a receptionist at Coca-Cola.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdpnoticias.com/nacional/2013/10/23/5-cosas-que-debes-saber-sobre-lilian-de-la-concha-ex-esposa-de-fox-y-vinculada-al-cartel-del-milenio|title=5 cosas que debes saber sobre Lilián de la Concha, ex esposa de Fox y vinculada al Cártel del Milenio|date=23 October 2013|access-date=6 November 2016|archive-date=14 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114024043/http://www.sdpnoticias.com/nacional/2013/10/23/5-cosas-que-debes-saber-sobre-lilian-de-la-concha-ex-esposa-de-fox-y-vinculada-al-cartel-del-milenio|url-status=dead}}</ref> They had four children, Ana Cristina, Vicente, Paulina and Rodrigo.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=BeleJack|first=Barbara|title=Live, from Guanjuato: It's President VICENTE FOX!|magazine=Texas Observer|date=16 February 2001|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=20|access-date=4 June 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194005/http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=20|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1990, after 20 years of marriage, Lilian filed for and was granted a divorce.

Fox remarried on 2 July 2001, while serving as President of Mexico, to [[Marta Sahagún de Fox|Marta María Sahagún Jiménez]] (until then his spokesperson). The wedding date was the first anniversary of his presidential election and his 59th birthday. For both Fox and Sahagún Jiménez, it was their second marriage.

==Early political career==
[[File:Conferencia de Prensa con FOX.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Fox during a press conference, June 1990]]
With the support of [[Manuel Clouthier]], Vicente Fox joined the [[National Action Party (Mexico)|Partido Acción Nacional]] on 1 March 1988. That same year, he was elected to the federal [[Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)|Chamber of Deputies]], representing the Third Federal District in [[León, Guanajuato|León]], Guanajuato.<ref name="UNbio"/>

===Governor of Guanajuato===
In 1991, after serving in the [[Congress of the Union|Chamber of Deputies]], Fox sought the [[Governor of Guanajuato|governorship in Guanajuato]], but lost the disputed election to Ramón Aguirre Velázquez of the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party|PRI]]. Following the election, local discontent over allegations of fraud surrounding Aguirre Velázquez's victory led the PRI candidate to decline to take office.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Adrián |first=Martínez |date=2024-03-07 |title=Cuántos años lleva el PAN gobernando Guanajuato |url=https://www.telediario.mx/politica/elecciones/pan-en-guanajuato-cuantos-anos-lleva-gobernando-en-el-estado |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Teledario |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Robberson |first=Tod |date=1995-05-28 |title=Long-Ruling Party Awaits Ire Of Voters As Two States Elect Governors |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/05/29/long-ruling-party-awaits-ire-of-voters-as-two-states-elect-governors/eb0d3e5d-809e-40c0-b2f3-1c625beb2e9c/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> The [[Congress of Guanajuato|state congress]] appointed [[Carlos Medina Plascencia]] of the [[National Action Party (Mexico)|PAN]] as interim governor.<ref name="balero">{{cite web |year=2000 |title=Vicente Fox: President Elect of Mexico |url=http://www.elbalero.gob.mx/kids/history/html/bio_foxkids.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307090729/http://www.elbalero.gob.mx/kids/history/html/bio_foxkids.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=7 March 2007 |access-date=4 June 2007}}</ref> 

In the [[1995 Guanajuato state election]], Fox ran again, and was elected governor with over 58% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Resultados de la Elección para Gobernador en el Estado, Guanajuato |url=http://www.imocorp.com.mx/CAMPO/ZSIEM/ELEC_X_ANIO/RESULTADOSWEB.ASP?IDELECCION=38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713005114/http://www.imocorp.com.mx/CAMPO/ZSIEM/ELEC_X_ANIO/RESULTADOSWEB.ASP?IDELECCION=38 |archive-date=2008-07-13 |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=SIEM}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Dillon |first=Sam |date=2000-07-04 |title=Man in the News: The 'Sell Me' Politician the Mexicans Bought |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/070400mexico-fox.html |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> As governor, Fox promoted government efficiency and transparency. He was one of the first state governors of Mexico to give a clear, public and timely account of the finances of his state.<ref name="Biography of Vicente Fox">[http://www.un.int/mexico/biography_fox.htm Biography of Vicente Fox] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918011100/http://www.un.int/Mexico/biography_Fox.htm |date=18 September 2012 }}, United Nations (accessed 20 January 2010).</ref>

Fox also pushed for the consolidation of small firms, promoted the overseas sales of goods manufactured in Guanajuato, and created an extensive system of small loans to allow the poor to open a ''changarro'' (a small shop) and buy a car and a television.<ref>John Ross, [https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/211/44231.html Fox, Inc., takes over Mexico] dated March 2001, at globalpolicy.org. Retrieved 8 July 2017</ref> Under Fox, Guanajuato became the fifth most important Mexican state economy.<ref name="Biography of Vicente Fox"/>

===Campaign for president===
{{Main|2000 Mexican general election}}
[[File:DiazFoxMODO02.JPG|thumb|Items from Fox's presidential campaign on display at the ''[[Museo del Objeto del Objeto]]'']]
On 7 July 1997, after the opposition parties first won a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, Vicente Fox decided to run for [[President of Mexico]]. In spite of opposition within his political party, Fox secured his candidacy representing the [[Alliance for Change (Mexico)|Alliance for Change]], a political coalition formed by the [[National Action Party (Mexico)|National Action Party]] and the [[Green Ecological Party of Mexico]] on 14 November 1999.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marley|first=David F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pO6yDwAAQBAJ&q=National+Action+Party+and+the+Green+Ecological+Party+of+Mexico+on+14+November+1999&pg=PA117|title=Mexican Cartels: An Encyclopedia of Mexico's Crime and Drug Wars|date=11 October 2019|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-6476-6|language=en}}</ref>

During the course of his campaign, a presidential debate was organized, but the three main contenders (Fox, [[Francisco Labastida]] of the PRI, and [[Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas]] of the PRD) disagreed on the details. One notable disagreement, which was broadcast on national television, was whether the presidential debate should be held that same day or on the following Friday.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-65306555.html Encyclopedia.com]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002171435/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-65306555.html |date=2 October 2009 }}</ref>

During the nationally televised presidential debate, Fox's main opponent, Francisco Labastida, claimed that Fox had repeatedly called him a "sissy" and a "cross-dresser" ("la vestida", a pun on his last name).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/813206.stm|title=AMERICAS – Profile: Vicente Fox|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> Fox's campaign slogans were "¡Ya!" ("Right now!"), "Ya ganamos" ("We've already won"), and "Vota Alianza por el Cambio" ("Vote for Alliance for Change").{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

In addition to some debate controversies, Fox also faced some controversy due to ''[[Amigos de Fox]]'' (Friends of Fox), a nonprofit fundraising group established by Denise Montaño. The group was instrumental in getting Vicente Fox elected President of Mexico, and the phrase "''Amigos de Fox''" was used as a campaign slogan referring to the millions of people supporting Fox in the 2000 presidential election.<ref>[http://www.laraza.com/news.php?nid=38696 LaRaza.com]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012120043/http://www.laraza.com/news.php?nid=38696 |date=12 October 2007 }}</ref>

In 2003, [[money-laundering]] charges were lodged against ''Amigos de Fox'', but were dropped shortly before the July 2003 midterm elections.<ref>{{cite web |first= |date=6 May 2005 |title=Reuters AlertNet - Mexico |url=http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=%2Fdb%2Fcp%2Fmexico.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060612205853/http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=%2Fdb%2Fcp%2Fmexico.htm |archive-date=12 June 2006 |access-date=6 November 2016 |website=Reuters}}</ref>

====Election results====
[[File:Gerhard Schroeder Vicente Fox.jpg|thumb|German Chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]] with Fox in [[Los Pinos]], May 2004]]
On 2 July 2000, his 58th birthday, Fox won the presidential election with 43% (15,989,636 votes) of the popular vote, followed by the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (PRI) candidate [[Francisco Labastida]] with 36% (13,579,718 votes), and [[Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas]] of the [[Party of the Democratic Revolution]] (PRD) with 17% (6,256,780 votes). Fox declared victory that same night, a victory that was ratified by then-President Zedillo. After the final results were announced, President-elect Fox addressed thousands of supporters and celebrated his victory with them at the [[Angel of Independence]] monument in [[Mexico City]]. His opponents conceded the election later that night.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

After securing the election, Fox received substantial media coverage, as well as numerous congratulatory messages and phone calls from world leaders, including then-President of the United States [[Bill Clinton]]. He took office on 1 December 2000, the first time since 1917 that an opposition candidate had taken power from the long-reigning [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (PRI).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pastor|first1=Manuel|last2=Wise|first2=Carol|year=2005|title=The Lost Sexenio: Vicente Fox and the New Politics of Economic Reform in Mexico|journal=Latin American Politics and Society|volume=47|issue=4|pages=135–160|issn=1531-426X|jstor=4490436|doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2005.tb00331.x|s2cid=232390455}}</ref>

==Presidency==
[[File:Vicente Fox flag.jpg|thumb|150px|Fox on July 30, 2005]]
{{See also|Presidency of Vicente Fox}}

===Public image===
During his campaign for president, Vicente Fox became well known for his cowboy style and quirkiness. As a speaker, Fox usually attracted big crowds in the early years of his presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/1999/07/26/mexico/|title=Taking back the barrio|first=Koren L.|last=Capoza|date=26 July 1999|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> At {{convert|6|ft|4|in|cm|0|abbr=on|order=flip}}, Fox easily stood out in most crowds, and is believed to be one of the tallest presidents in Mexico's history.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/813206.stm|work=BBC News|title=Profile: Vicente Fox|date=3 July 2000|access-date=27 May 2010}}</ref> After his inauguration, President Fox usually wore suits for formal occasions, but opted to wear his signature boots and jeans during his many visits around Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://archives.cjr.org/year/01/4/images/foxmexico.jpg&imgrefurl=|title=Google Images|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>

Fox spread his image as one of peace and welcomed many to his own ranch in [[Guanajuato]], Mexico. When Fox welcomed U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] to the ranch, both presidents were wearing Fox's signature black cowboy boots, prompting ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' to call it "The Boot Summit".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=|title=Google Images|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>
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====Approval ratings====
[[File:APROBACION FOX.png|thumb|500px|Approval ratings of the Fox administration. Data from GEA-ISA Structura
{{legend|#00FF00|Approve}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Disapprove}}
{{legend|#C0C0C0|Doesn't know/no answer}}]]
When Fox took office on 1 December 2000, his approval rating neared 80%. During the rest of his presidency, his average approval rating was of 53%, while his average disapproval rating was of 40%.

As seen in the graphic, after taking office the particularly high points of his approval ratings were: 
* August 2002 (58% approval, 39% disapproval, 3% unsure), after Fox suspended the construction of a new airport in the [[State of Mexico]] following months of [[Community Front in Defense of Land|protests by local residents]] who had resisted their displacement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Derrotan los ejidatarios a Fox: Cancela el aeropuerto en Texcoco |url=https://www.proceso.com.mx/243768/derrotan-los-ejidatarios-a-fox-cancela-el-aeropuerto-en-texcoco |access-date=27 January 2020 |publisher=Proceso |date=1 August 2002 |archive-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127023140/https://www.proceso.com.mx/243768/derrotan-los-ejidatarios-a-fox-cancela-el-aeropuerto-en-texcoco |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* May 2003 (57% approval, 37% disapproval, 6% unsure), after Fox announced that Mexico would not support the [[US invasion and occupation of Iraq|US invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Fox se reunirá con el ex presidente Bush en México |url=https://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/30550.fox-se-reunira-con-el-ex-presidente-bush-en-mexico.html |access-date=27 January 2020 |agency=Reuters |publisher=El Siglo de Torreón |date=8 May 2003}}</ref>
*Throughout 2006, his average approval rating was 58% and his average disapproval rating was 37%, as Fox was in his last year as president and the public focus was on the [[Mexican general election, 2006|Presidential elections of that year]]. The popularity enjoyed by Fox during this period, however, didn't seem to largely benefit the Presidential candidate of his party ([[National Action Party (Mexico)|PAN]]) [[Felipe Calderón]], who was controversially declared winner with only 35.9% of the votes, against [[Andrés Manuel López Obrador]] of the [[Party of the Democratic Revolution|PRD]] who officially obtained 35.3% of the votes and claimed that the election had been fraudulent.

While the lowest points of his approval ratings were:
*March 2002 (39% approval, 52% disapproval, 9% unsure), in the wake of the "''Comes y te vas''" ("Eat and then leave") scandal: during the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development, which took place between 18 and 22 March 2002 in the city of [[Monterrey, Mexico|Monterrey]] and was hosted by Fox, a diplomatic incident occurred when on the night of the 19th Fox received a letter from Cuban leader [[Fidel Castro]] informing him that Castro intended to attend the event on the 21st, as he had been invited by the United Nations. Hours after receiving the letter, Fox made a telephone call to Castro in which he expressed his surprise at Castro's intention to attend the conference and scolded him for not telling him earlier. During the call, Fox suggested to Castro that he and the Cuban delegation arrive on the 21st as scheduled to make their presentation, and finally attend a lunch with the other leaders, after which they would return to Cuba. Fox was apparently worried that US President [[George W. Bush]], who was also scheduled to arrive on the 21st,<ref>{{cite web |title=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/bush-george-w |access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref> would be offended by Castro's presence at the conference, which is why Fox suggested Castro to leave after the lunch. Castro was outraged at the proposal, and told Fox that in response, he would make the contents of the call {{endash}} which he was secretly taping {{endash}} public, which he indeed did. The media quickly caught onto the incident, dubbing it "Comes y te vas" ("Eat and then leave") after Fox's suggestion towards Castro to leave the conference after the aforementioned lunch. The scandal badly hurt the Fox administration, as it made him seem subservient to the United States and it also broke with the Mexican diplomatic tradition of neutrality towards Cuba.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mexico's Fox apologises to Castro |work=[[BBC News]] |date=25 April 2002 |access-date=3 November 2013 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1946089.stm}}</ref><ref name="Lacey">{{cite news |author=Marc Lacey |title=Top diplomats of Cuba and Mexico meet |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 December 2009 |access-date=3 November 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/world/americas/12havana.html}}</ref>
*February 2004 (42% approval, 48% disapproval, 10% unsure), in the midst of scandals surrounding the First Lady [[Marta Sahagún]], who was accused by an article in the [[Financial Times]] of using public funds to run her "Vamos México" foundation. In the same month, Sahagún announced that she intended to become the PAN candidate for the 2006 Presidential elections, an announcement that was deeply unpopular within the party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Financial Times revela anomalías en las cuentas de Vamos México |url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2004/02/02/006n1pol.php?origen=index.html&fly=2 |access-date=27 January 2020 |publisher=La Jornada}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Vargas Elvira |first1=Rosa |title=Anuncia Marta Sahagún que ya no buscará ser consejera panista |url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2004/02/17/003n1pol.php?printver=1&fly= |publisher=La Jornada |access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref>
*Throughout the rest of 2004 and 2005, Fox's approval rating on average was 45% and his average disapproval rate was of 49%. His generalized descent in popularity during this period is attributed to the highly controversial process of [[Desafuero of Andrés Manuel López Obrador|Desafuero against Andrés Manuel López Obrador]] beginning in May 2004, when the [[Attorney General (Mexico)|Attorney General]] of the Republic, supported by the Federal Government, accused López Obrador, then Mayor of Mexico City, of disobeying a federal judge's order regarding an expropriation case, and requested both the removal (''desafuero'') of López Obrador's constitutional legal immunity and his dismissal as Mayor of Mexico City. Due to López Obrador's very high approval ratings in Mexico City<ref>{{cite news |title=López Obrador mantiene índices altos de aceptación, revela sondeo |url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2005/01/08/013n2pol.php |access-date=27 January 2020 |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=La Jornada |date=8 January 2005}}</ref> and the fact that Fox himself had harshly criticized his administration on previous occasions, López Obrador's supporters protested the ''desafuero'' process and accused Fox of trying to prevent López Obrador from participating in the 2006 presidential elections (given that if he was officially charged, López Obrador would have lost all of his civil rights, including the right to run for the Presidency in 2006, unless he was either quickly acquitted of all charges or managed to serve his sentence before the electoral registration deadline). The process went on for 12 months, and was nearly unanimously criticized by national and foreign media,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/opinion/07thu2.html |title=Let Mexico's Voters Decide |work=The New York Times |author=Editorial Desk |date=7 April 2005 |access-date=16 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410232010/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/opinion/07thu2.html |archive-date=10 April 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28426-2005Apr5.html |title= Decision on Democracy |newspaper= The Washington Post |author= Editorial desk |date= 6 April 2005 |access-date= 16 June 2008 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121112203531/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28426-2005Apr5.html |archive-date= 12 November 2012 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> climaxing in April 2005. On 7 April, the [[Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)|Chamber of Deputies]] voted by 360 to 127 (with two abstentions) to lift López Obrador's constitutional immunity; nonetheless, after a massive rally in support of López Obrador took place in Mexico City on 24 April 2005, with an attendance exceeding one million people (at the time, the biggest political manifestation in recent Mexican history)<ref>[http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/04/25/index.php La Jornada > Lunes 25 de abril de 2005<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Fox decided to stop the judicial process against López Obrador. 
*May 2005 registered the lowest approval rating for Fox (35% approval, 59% disapproval, 6% unsure) in the aftermath of both the chaotic Desafuero process and the controversial comments made by Fox regarding African Americans that same month.

====Controversial comments====
[[File:Fox Lopez Obrador Montiel.jpg|right|thumb|Fox (left) with [[Andrés Manuel López Obrador|López Obrador]] (center) and former México State governor [[Arturo Montiel]] (right) in June 2003]]
[[File:Fox-Bush in Crawford TX.jpg|thumb|right|Fox and his wife [[Marta Sahagún|Marta]] with US President [[George W. Bush]] and First Lady [[Laura Bush]] in [[Crawford, Texas]], March 2004]]
* In March 2002, two days prior to the International Conference on Financing for Development held in [[Monterrey]], [[Nuevo León]], Fox called Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]] and instructed him to limit his comments about the United States and suggested that Castro leave Mexico after he delivered his speech and ate his meal.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} Castro later called this a "despicable betrayal."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/world/castro-s-attack-on-fox-places-cuban-mexican-ties-in-danger.html|title=Castro's Attack on Fox Places Cuban-Mexican Ties in Danger|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Tim|last=Weiner|date=24 April 2002 }}</ref>
* In May 2005, a controversy arose over comments Fox made during a meeting with Texas business people in which he said, "There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work, are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States."  This angered African-Americans in the United States, prompting many black leaders to demand an apology from Fox. Reverend [[Al Sharpton]] requested a formal apology from Fox to the African-American community and called for an [[boycott|economic boycott]] of Mexican products until an apology was received.  Sharpton, along with many African-Americans felt that Fox's comments were insensitive and racist. Reverend [[Jesse Jackson]], during a news conference concerning Fox's statement about African-Americans, said that he felt that the comments were, "unwitting, unnecessary and inappropriate," and added that "[Fox's] statement had the impact of being inciting and divisive."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/14/fox.jackson/ "Mexican leader criticized for comment on blacks"], CNN, 15 May 2005.</ref>
* Fox was also known to have mispronounced the name of Argentine writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]] as "José Luis Borgues" in the [[Real Academia Española|Royal Congress of the Spanish Language]]. This error sparked accusations of an "uncultured" President.<ref name="autogenerated2">[http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/403553.html "Vuelve Fox a incurrir en error cultural en discurso"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403020321/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/403553.html |date=3 April 2007 }}, El Universal, México.</ref>
* On 30 May 2005, President Fox told reporters that the majority of the [[female homicides in Ciudad Juárez]] had been resolved and the perpetrators placed behind bars.  He went on to criticize the media for "rehashing" the same 300 or 400 murders, and said matters needed to be seen in their "proper dimension."<ref>{{cite news |title=México: Congreso pregunta por Juárez |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_4595000/4595373.stm |access-date=19 September 2019 |work=BBC Mundo |date=31 May 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=News in English, 05-05-31 |url=http://www.hri.org/news/greek/eraen/2005/05-05-31_1.eraen.html |access-date=19 September 2019 |agency=Hellenic Radio (ERA) |date=31 May 2005}}</ref>
* In 2006, after Bolivian President [[Evo Morales]] refused to sell natural gas, Fox said, "Well, they'll either have to consume it all themselves or they're going to have to eat it."<ref>[https://archive.today/20130221044537/http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=220357 "Evo pide a Fox que no trate de humillarlo por presunta negativa a vender gas a México"] 24 March 2008.</ref>
* On 8 March 2006, in the wake of the murder of Canadians Domenico and Nancy Ianiero at a resort in [[Cancún]], Fox said there was evidence that pointed to Canadian suspects from [[Thunder Bay]], in an apparent attempt to portray Cancún as a safe vacation resort. Fox's comments were criticized by the Ianieros' lawyer [[Edward Greenspan]] for compromising the investigation, which the Canadian press characterized as mishandled by Mexican authorities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/bungling-of-ianiero-murder-case-tied-to-mexican-tourist-trade-lawyer-1.818663 |title=Bungling of Ianiero murder case tied to Mexican tourist trade: lawyer |publisher=CBC News |date=17 July 2009 |access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> Thereafter, attorney general Bello Melchor Rodríguez later stated that Canadians were never considered as suspects.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/suspects-in-ianiero-murder-likely-canadian-fox-1.605608 Suspects in Ianiero murder likely Canadian: Fox] 29 March 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mexico-murders/ A timeline of the case] 26 July 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314230438/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mexico-murders/ |date=14 March 2013 }}</ref>
* In November 2006, the TV network [[Telemundo]] released a video of a previously recorded interview with President Fox in which he stated: "Ya hoy hablo libre, ya digo cualquier tontería, ya no importa, ya total, yo ya me voy" which means "Now, I speak freely. Now, I say whatever nonsense. It doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, I'm already leaving." Then, during the interview he talked about the violent situation in [[Oaxaca]]. The President's office complained about the release of this footage and said he was not aware of the camera and microphones being turned on. News agency [[EFE]] accused Telemundo of acting unethically, because the video was EFE's intellectual property.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas_coment.asp?nota_id=95084&cmt=16429|title=El Porvenir – Nacional – 'Puedo decir cualquier tontería... ya me voy: Fox|date=28 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928043229/http://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas_coment.asp?nota_id=95084&cmt=16429|access-date=4 February 2019|archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref>
* In 2006, Fox decided to cancel the parade commemorating the 96th anniversary of the [[Mexican Revolution]] which was scheduled to take place on 20 November, arguing it was an obsolete celebration that nobody wanted to participate in any more.  Some commentators considered that this was a response to [[Andrés Manuel López Obrador]]'s assumption of an alternative presidency to take place the same day. Others considered Fox's move a smart decision, while others viewed it as a sign of political weakness.<ref>[http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=267946 "Cancela Fox, porque son 'tiempos democráticos', el desfile deportivo del 20 de noviembre; PRI considera que cedió la plaza a López"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012115432/http://cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=267946 |date=12 October 2007 }}. 24 March 2008.</ref>
* In a lecture in the United States, in which he was a keynote speaker, he identified Peruvian writer [[Mario Vargas Llosa]] as a Colombian Nobel laureate (Spanish by naturalization).  At the time, however, Vargas Llosa was not a [[Nobel Laureate]].<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Later, in October 2010, Fox congratulated Vargas Llosa on Twitter for winning the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]], but he incorrectly attributed the Nobel Prize to Jorge Luis Borges.<ref>[http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/714424.html Fox incurre en error al felicitar a Vargas Llosa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010023447/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/714424.html |date=10 October 2010 }}. 7 October 2010.</ref>

===Legacy and assessment===
[[File:Fox,_Bush,_Martin.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Fox with US President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister [[Paul Martin]]]]
Although Fox's victory in the 2000 election and the end of seven decades of PRI rule raised great expectations of change among the Mexican people, his administration was criticized for failing to fulfill those expectations, as little progress was made in fighting corruption, crime, poverty, unemployment and inequality. Few key reforms were implemented during the Fox administration, which became characterised by a growing sense of [[power vacuum]] as Fox was increasingly perceived by Mexican society and political actors as a "[[Lame duck (politics)|lame duck]]" incapable of pushing the ambitious reform agenda that swept him into power in 2000.<ref name="ortega">{{cite news |last1=Ortega Avila |first1=Antonio |title=La revolución fracasada de Fox |url=https://elpais.com/diario/2005/07/02/internacional/1120255208_850215.html |newspaper=El País |access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sexenio foxista, entre los escándalos y la decepción |url=https://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/234046.sexenio-foxista-entre-los-escandalos-y-la-decepcion.html |website=El Siglo de Torreón |date=4 September 2006 |access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Batres Guadarrama |first1=Marti |title=Vicente Fox, el fracasado |url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2006/11/30/index.php?section=opinion&article=026a2pol |publisher=La Jornada |access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref> Alejandro Cacho points out that "Fox incarnated the hope of alternancy [...] and he managed to kick the PRI out of [[Los Pinos]], but his government was a disappointment. Corruption persisted; in fact, his sons-in-law (the Bribiesca-Sahagún brothers) became rich quickly and without explanation. The economy wasn't much better than it had been under Ernesto Zedillo, the wages didn't increase significantly, neither did jobs. His "[[Presidency of Vicente Fox#Cabinet|super cabinet]]" ["gabinetazo", as Fox himself referred to it] created more controversy than it did good results. His wife, [[Marta Sahagún]], had a big influence in the presidential decisions".<ref name="¿Queremos candidato o presidente">{{cite news |last1=Cacho |first1=Alejandro |title=¿Queremos candidato o presidente? |url=https://elheraldodemexico.com/opinion/queremos-candidato-o-presidente/ |access-date=12 January 2020 |publisher=El Heraldo de México |date=5 June 2018 |archive-date=12 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112052216/https://elheraldodemexico.com/opinion/queremos-candidato-o-presidente/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Having assumed office with an approval rating of 80%,<ref name="ortega"/> by the time he left office in 2006 his public image had become exhausted by the controversial presidential elections of that year and the few reforms implemented.

In terms of the significance of Fox's presidency, historian Philip Russell asserts that, "Marketed on television, Fox made a far better candidate than he did president.<ref name="Russell, Philip 2011 593">{{cite book|author=Russell, Philip|title=The History of Mexico: From Pre-Conquest to Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5xdBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA593|year=2011|publisher=Routledge|page=593|isbn=9781136968280}}</ref>
He failed to take charge and provide cabinet leadership, failed to set priorities, and turned a blind eye to alliance building."  Fox himself asserted in 2001 (one year into his administration) that he much preferred his experience as candidate than actually being president.<ref name="¿Queremos candidato o presidente"/>

Russell also pointed to 2006 comments by political scientist [[Soledad Loaeza]], who noted, "The eager candidate became a reluctant president who avoided tough choices and appeared hesitant and unable to hide the weariness caused by the responsibilities and constraints of the office."  Russell also asserted that Fox "had little success in fighting crime. Even though he maintained the macroeconomic stability inherited from his predecessor, economic growth barely exceeded the rate of population increase. Similarly, the lack of fiscal reform left tax collection at a rate similar to that of [[Haiti]] . . . ."  Finally, Russell noted that "during Fox's administration, only 1.4&nbsp;million formal-sector jobs were created, leading to massive immigration to the United States and an explosive increase in informal employment."  Ultimately, however, Russell concluded that Fox will be viewed by history as a transitional figure who was able to defeat one of Mexico's long-entrenched political parties.<ref name="Russell, Philip 2011 593"/>

In a national survey conducted in 2012 by BGC-Excelsior regarding former presidents, 32% of the respondents considered that the Fox administration was "very good" or "good", 25% responded that it was an "average" administration, and 42% responded that it was a "very bad" or "bad" administration.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beltran |first1=Ulises |title=Zedillo y Fox los ex presidentes de México más reconocidos |date=29 October 2012 |url=https://www.imagenradio.com.mx/zedillo-y-fox-los-ex-presidentes-de-mexico-mas-reconocidos |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126173838/https://www.imagenradio.com.mx/zedillo-y-fox-los-ex-presidentes-de-mexico-mas-reconocidos |archive-date=26 January 2020|publisher=Imagen Radio |access-date=26 August 2023}}</ref>

==Post-presidential life==

===Public speaking and advocacy===
Since leaving office in December 2006, Fox has maintained himself in the public eye by speaking in countries such as Nigeria, Ireland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://survey.telefonica.com/category/blog/oneyoungworld/|title=One Young World Archives – Telefonica|access-date=6 November 2016|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925134656/http://survey.telefonica.com/category/blog/oneyoungworld/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Canada, and the United States about topics such as the [[Controversies of the 2006 Mexican general election|controversial 2006 election]] and the [[Iraq War]]. In Mexico, Fox has been criticized by some for his busy post-presidency since former Mexican presidents are traditionally expected to stay out of the political spotlight.  In response, Fox has stated, "There is no reason to hold to the anti-democratic rules of those who still live in the authoritarian past . . . now that Mexico is a democracy, every citizen has the right to express himself, even a former president."<ref>Wall, Allan. [http://mexidata.info/id1547.html "Fox Redefines the Role of Past Mexican Presidents"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125085136/http://mexidata.info/id1547.html |date=25 November 2010 }} (accessed 20 January 2010).</ref>

Vicente Fox joined four other Latin American presidents at the One Young World Summit 2014 in [[Dublin]], Ireland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://centrofox.org.mx/en/vicente-fox-participa-en-cumbre-mundial-one-young-world-2014/|title=Centro Fox » (Español) Vicente Fox participa en cumbre mundial One Young World 2014: "La erradicación de la corrupción tiene que empezar con la educación"|access-date=6 November 2016|archive-date=1 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501202639/http://centrofox.org.mx/en/vicente-fox-participa-en-cumbre-mundial-one-young-world-2014/|url-status=dead}}</ref> to discuss the [[Telefónica]] Millennial Survey. He told those in the audience that eradicating corruption "has to start with education" and that his focus is now on promoting leadership.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8jiHvvGcv4&list=UUFnB6jXxfLsD3CmNIZ8iYCg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/M8jiHvvGcv4| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=President Vicente Fox of Mexico Introduces Himself|last=One Young World|date=17 October 2014|access-date=6 November 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Vicente Fox is a member of the [[Global Leadership Foundation]], a not-for-profit organization that offers, discreetly and confidentially, a range of experienced advisors to political leaders facing difficult situations.

[[File:CalderonFox.jpg|thumb|left|Fox with [[Felipe Calderón]] Hinojosa]] 
In 2013, Fox discussed why the West has pursued a moral crusade against drugs at [[HowTheLightGetsIn]] festival in [[Hay-on-Wye]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Fox|first=Vicente|title=Drugs, Money and Morality|url=http://iai.tv/video/drugs-money-and-morality|publisher=IAI|access-date=29 January 2014}}</ref> with [[Chris Bryant]] and [[John Ralston Saul]]. The three debated whether it is hypocritical to ban certain drugs while continuing to export others such as alcohol and tobacco, and whether to follow the lead of Washington and Colorado states in the U.S. and allow the free trading of drugs.

Vicente Fox gave a video interview in July 2013 to ''[[High Times]]'', in which he discussed the failure of drug prohibition, and cited Portugal's [[Drug policy of Portugal|decriminalization policies]] as "working splendid(ly)."  He said he supports drug legalization despite not being a user himself, just as he said he also "fully respects" [[same-sex marriage in Mexico|same-sex marriage]] although he does not personally agree with it.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hampton|first=Justin|title=President Vicente Fox: The HIGH TIMES Interview|url=http://www.hightimes.com/watch/high-times-interview-president-vicente-fox/|work=High Times|access-date=18 February 2014|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190111/http://www.hightimes.com/watch/high-times-interview-president-vicente-fox|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In February 2014, Fox wrote an opinion piece that was published in [[Toronto]]'s ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' in which he stated that, "Legalization of not just marijuana, but all drugs, is the right thing to do."<ref name=g&m>{{cite news |last=Fox |first=Vicente |title=For Mexico, legalization is freedom |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/for-mexico-legalization-is-freedom/article16907137/ |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |access-date=18 February 2014 |location=Toronto |date=17 February 2014}}</ref> He also said that "we must be given the very freedom to decide our own behaviour and to act responsibly, as long as we do not detrimentally affect the rights of others".<ref name=g&m/>

In 2016, Fox co-signed a letter to [[Ban Ki-moon]] calling for a more humane drug policy.

In July 2017, Fox was an [[Election monitoring|international observer]] to the [[2017 Venezuelan referendum|unofficial Venezuelan referendum]] held by the opposition.<ref name="Venezuela">{{cite web|title=Venezuela declara a Vicente Fox persona 'non grata'|url=http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2017/07/17/1176049|website=Excélsior|access-date=20 July 2017|language=es|date=17 July 2017}}</ref> During the trip, Fox gave a speech that compared the referendum to the 2000 Mexican elections.<ref name="Venezuela2">{{cite web|title=Venezuela declara 'persona non grata' a Vicente Fox|url=http://www.milenio.com/internacional/vicente_fox_quesada-venezuela-persona_no_grata-presidente_mexico-noticias_0_994100860.html|website=Milenio|date=16 July 2017 |access-date=20 July 2017|language=es}}</ref> He said that "this battle has been won" and "step by step, vote by vote, the dictator will leave."<ref name="Venezuela3">{{cite web|title=Vicente Fox es declarado persona 'non grata' en Venezuela|url=http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/mundo/vicente-fox-es-declarado-persona-non-grata-en-venezuela.html|website=elfinanciero.com.mx|date=17 July 2017 |access-date=21 July 2017}}</ref> He was subsequently declared a [[persona non grata]] by the Venezuelan government.<ref name="Venezuela"/> Venezuelan Foreign Minister [[Samuel Moncada]] said that Fox had taken advantage of the country's hospitality and "was paid to come to Venezuela to promote violence and the intervention of foreign powers."<ref name="Venezuela2"/> Moncado said the ban came from Maduro and criticized Fox and the other former Latin American leaders invited as observers ([[Andrés Pastrana]], [[Jorge Quiroga]], [[Laura Chinchilla]] and [[Miguel Ángel Rodríguez]]) as "political sicarios," "clowns" and "mercenaries" that "sell themselves to the highest bidder to go to various destinations and repeat what they are told."<ref name="Venezuela3"/> Fox said he was not surprised by the ban and that the vote would weaken Maduro.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vicente Fox responde a Venezuela tras ser nombrado|url=https://www.publimetro.com.mx/mx/noticias/2017/07/18/vicente-fox-responde-venezuela.html|website=Publimetro México|date=18 July 2017 |access-date=21 July 2017|language=es-ES}}</ref>

In 2018, Fox joined the ''[[High Times]]'' board of directors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Blood |first1=Michael R. |title=Former Mexico President Vicente Fox joins High Times board |url=https://apnews.com/article/157a549f4ed14396b46d8e72f937d44b |access-date=10 January 2021 |work=AP News |date=18 June 2018}}</ref> He left the board in 2020 over concerns surrounding the company's stock offering.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schreckinger |first1=Ben |title=How Legal Weed Destroyed a Counterculture Icon |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/09/04/high-times-hard-times-404419 |access-date=10 January 2021 |work=Politico |date=4 September 2020}}</ref>

He supported [[Javier Milei]] in [[2023 Argentine general election]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://elpais.com/argentina/2023-11-12/los-expresidentes-rajoy-pinera-duque-y-calderon-piden-el-voto-para-el-ultraderechista-milei-en-argentina.html | title=El Nobel Vargas Llosa y los expresidentes Rajoy, Duque y Piñera piden el voto para el ultraderechista Milei en Argentina | date=12 November 2023 }}</ref>

===Criticism of Donald Trump===
[[File:Vicente Fox by Gage Skidmore.jpg|right|thumb|Fox speaking in Washington, D.C., February 2015]]
Fox has been an outspoken critic of U.S. President [[Donald Trump]], beginning with Trump's bid for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidacy in the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]].

In an interview with [[Univision]]'s [[Jorge Ramos (news anchor)|Jorge Ramos]] in February 2016, Fox responded to then-candidate Trump's proposal to [[Trump's border wall|build a wall]] at the border between the United States and Mexico at Mexico's expense,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform|title=Immigration|access-date=6 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929153557/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform|archive-date=29 September 2015}}</ref> declaring in English, "I am not going to pay for that fucking wall. He should pay for it. He's got the money."<ref>{{cite web|title=Former Mexican President to Trump: 'I'm not going to pay for that fucking wall'|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4OwJOVi0ec |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/x4OwJOVi0ec| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|via=YouTube|access-date=21 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Fox went on to call Trump a "crazy guy" and a "false prophet," and questioned the claim that Trump received 44% of the Hispanic vote in the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] caucus in Nevada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fusion.net/story/273374/former-mexican-president-to-donald-trump-not-paying-for-that-fucking-wall/|title=Former Mexican President to Donald Trump: 'I'm not going to pay for that fucking wall'|access-date=6 November 2016|archive-date=5 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105181653/http://fusion.net/story/273374/former-mexican-president-to-donald-trump-not-paying-for-that-fucking-wall/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Trump took to Twitter in response, demanding that Fox apologize for using "the F word while discussing the wall."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Jenna |date=2021-11-26 |title=Former Mexican president says he will not pay for Donald Trump's 'f—— wall' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/25/former-mexican-president-says-he-will-not-pay-for-donald-trumps-f-wall/ |access-date=2024-06-03 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Fox eventually apologized for the remark, while also asking for Trump to apologize for his remarks about Mexicans and inviting Trump to visit Mexico.<ref name="Apology">{{cite web |date=5 May 2016 |title=Vicente Fox apologizes to Trump for wall outburst |url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/05/vicente-fox-apologizes-trump-222842 |access-date=6 November 2016 |website=[[Politico]]}}</ref>

Despite his apology, Fox continued to criticize Trump to the international media and [[internet troll|troll]] Trump on Twitter, stating, "I'm committed to be Donald Trump's shadow until he is done with politics."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/745678364187426817|title=Vicente Fox Quesada on Twitter|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}} Fox would later go on to congratulate President-elect [[Joe Biden]] and his victory in the [[2020 United States presidential election]], defeating Trump.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/vicente-fox-bienvenido-presidente-biden-ni-fifis-ni-chairos-ni-color-en-la-piel|title = Vicente Fox. Bienvenido Presidente Biden; ni fifís, ni chairos, ni color en la piel|date = 7 November 2020}}</ref> When Trump visited Mexico on 31 August 2016 upon President [[Enrique Peña Nieto]]'s invitation, Fox slammed the visit, calling it a "desperate move" on the part of Peña Nieto and stating, "He is not welcome in Mexico. We don't like him. We don't want him. We reject his visit."<ref name="Visit">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/politics/vicente-fox-criticizes-trump-nieto-meeting/index.html|title=Former Mexican President apologizes for Trump invitation|first=David |last=Wright|work=CNN|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> Trump responded by pointing out Fox's previous invitation, to which Fox clarified that he invited Trump to Mexico on the condition that he used the visit to apologize to the Mexican people.<ref name="Visit"/> He directly addressed the American people the next day on CNN, where he described Trump as a "false prophet" who is "absolutely crazy" and warned that they need to "wake up" and realize the harm that Trump's immigration and economic policies would inflict on the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/vicente-fox-wake-up-america-227624|title=Vicente Fox on Trump: 'Please wake up, America'|website=[[Politico]] |date=September 2016 |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>

Later in September 2016, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that Fox had received multiple emails from [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Trump's campaign]] soliciting donations throughout the month.<ref name="Donate">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/26/donald-trump-keeps-asking-foreign-leaders-for-money-the-latest-vicente-fox/|title=Donald Trump keeps asking foreign leaders for money. The latest: Vicente Fox.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> Fox received the first email on 9 September, which he posted on Twitter and responded, "Donald Trump, I won't pay for that fucking wall! Also, campaigning in Mexico? Running out of money and friends?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/774387133343633408|title=Vicente Fox Quesada on Twitter|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}} Fox received two additional emails on 24 and 27 September, both of which he also posted on Twitter and mocked as being "desperate" and "begging."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/779728965166518272|title=Vicente Fox Quesada on Twitter|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/780814887190540288|title=Vicente Fox Quesada on Twitter|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}} The revelation of the emails has raised concern, as accepting campaign donations from foreign nationals is illegal in the United States.<ref name="Donate" />

During a September 2016 appearance on the radio show ''El Show de Piolín'', Fox smashed a Trump [[piñata]] hanging on the streets of Los Angeles while loudly singing the traditional Piñata song. Upon breaking it open, Fox noted its lack of contents and remarked, "Empty. Totally Empty. He doesn't have any brains."<ref name="GQ">{{cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/vicente-fox-former-president-mexico-donald-trump-interview|title=Vicente Fox, Former President of Mexico, Has a Few Thoughts on Donald Trump|first=Rebecca|last=Nelson|date=19 September 2016}}</ref> Discussing the event during a subsequent interview with ''[[GQ]]'', Fox expanded, "I had such a joy in my heart by doing that, because in Mexico, piñatas are very meaningful. Piñatas are a celebration. Piñatas let you send messages. And the message is: Trump is empty inside. He's empty in his head. That's why I put my hand into his head. There was no brain there. That's what he is, an empty person."<ref name="GQ" />

The day after Trump won the election, Fox wrote an editorial on the ''[[International Business Times]]'' website where he lamented Trump's victory and explored what Mexico could do in response. "Even though Trump is not the prettiest person in the room, we still have to dance with him. Now, we ought to look out for ourselves and find a way to work with the most powerful economy in the world, which is now led by an authoritarian racist[...]Donald Trump's promises have an expiration date. When the time comes to truly deliver to the American people, his "billion dollar show" will finally crumble beneath his feet," Fox wrote, concluding his editorial with, "I find quite sad that America, formerly the most open and cutting edge nation, has chosen to lock itself down inside concrete walls. It's tragic that fear, anger and wrath took over and pierced the hearts of their people. It will be hard to recover from this wound; but we better start working to heal as quickly as possible – and bring down the walls that blinded us in the beginning."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/president-trumps-megalomaniac-ideas-will-run-his-beloved-nation-into-ground-1590598|title=If Trump doesn't want to work with Mexico, it's America's loss|first=Vicente|last=Fox|date=9 November 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Vicente Fox (23848003298).jpg|left|thumb|Fox at an event in Phoenix, Arizona in October 2017 to meet with [[Hispanic Americans]]]]
Fox has continued criticizing Trump on Twitter after the election. In a series of tweets in January 2017, Fox again criticized Trump's proposed Mexican border wall, calling it a "racist monument" and insisted that Mexico will never fund it, calling on Trump to "be honest with US taxpayers" about that fact.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313122-vicente-fox-to-trump-we-wont-pay-for-that-fken-wall/|title=Vicente Fox to Trump: We won't pay for 'that f----- wall'|first=Brooke|last=Seipel|date=6 January 2017|website=The Hill|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> Following the release of a U.S. government intelligence report that [[2016 United States election interference by Russia|accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 election]] to ensure Trump's victory, Fox tweeted, "Sr Trump, the intelligence report is devastating. Losing election by more than 3M votes and in addition this. Are you a legitimate president?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/817502062170738689|title=Vicente Fox Quesada on Twitter}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}} Fox further criticized Trump's response to the intelligence report, calling him a "bully" and a "bluff" and stating that Trump is "bringing in a new era of dictatorship."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/313803-vicente-fox-trump-a-new-era-of-dictatorship/|title=Vicente Fox: Trump ushering in 'a new era of dictatorship'|first=Mark|last=Hensch|newspaper=The Hill |date=11 January 2017}}</ref> Though on 12 January, Fox broke with his criticism of Trump and simply tweeted, "America Will Survive."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/819650223660236801|title=Vicente Fox Quesada on Twitter}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}}

In an interview with [[Anderson Cooper]] on 25 January 2017, and during an appearance on [[Conan O'Brien]]'s late night talk show on 1 March 2017, Fox again asserted that Mexico should not have to pay for the wall.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cooper|first1=Anderson|title=Vicente Fox: Wall is stupid, waste of money|url=http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/26/vincente-fox-intv-mexico-border-wall-stupid-waste-of-money-sot-ac.cnn|work=CNN|date=26 January 2017 }}</ref>

In September 2017, Fox was once again in the news after President Trump announced he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in six months if the U.S. congress failed to pass legislation to address the issue.  In response, Fox tweeted to President Trump's Twitter account, "Ending DACA is on the top of the vilest acts you’ve pulled off. You’re destroying the legacy of greater men before you."  In another tweet, Fox suggested that President Trump's DACA decision was a result of him compensating for earlier failures to pass healthcare legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act.  Fox then went on to post a video in which he claimed that President Trump had "failed America" and stated that "[t]his measure is cruel and heartless, worse than any machine. You’re cancelling the future of 800,000 children and young people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vicente-fox-daca-donald-trump_us_59afd59ae4b0b5e531024aa5|title=Former Mexican President Vicente Fox Tears into Donald Trump Over DACA|date=6 September 2017 |publisher=huffpost.com|access-date=7 September 2017}}</ref>

As Fox frequently uses Twitter (in English) to respond to tweets by President Trump, he has attracted more than 1&nbsp;million followers on his Twitter account.<ref>[https://twitter.com/VicenteFoxQue/status/926560125082587137 VicenteFoxQue] Twitter 3 November 2017</ref>

Since May 2017, Fox has appeared in a series of humorous videos seriously denouncing Donald Trump, including "Vicente Fox is Running for President of the United States" (fake announcement for the candidacy) which was released in September.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeJLx_Dy_icz3oDHhJeMe9g/search?query=vincente+fox ''YouTube: Super Deluxe''] "Vicente Fox is Running for President of the United States", 7 September 2017.</ref>

===Autobiography===

[[File:Bush Fox Harper.jpg|right|thumb|Fox with US President [[George W. Bush]] and Canadian Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] in front of "[[El Castillo, Chichen Itza|El Castillo]]" in Chichén Itzá, March 2006]]

Fox's autobiography, entitled ''Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President'', was released in September 2007.<ref>[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-peppard_0429gl.ART.State.Bulldog.43489d9.html Clock ticking for Allyn on Fox book | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Arts & Entertainment]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041712/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-peppard_0429gl.ART.State.Bulldog.43489d9.html |date=30 September 2007 }}</ref> To promote its release, Fox toured many U.S. cities to do book-signings and interviews with U.S. media. During his tour, however, he faced protests from Mexican immigrants who accused him of actions that forced them to emigrate and find jobs in the United States.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130221015559/http://www.el-universal.com.mx/notas/403471.html Fox reaparece en Los Ángeles; entre protestas, defiende logros – El Universal – México<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He faced the subject several times during interviews, such as one held with [[Fox News]]'s [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]], who questioned him about the massive illegal immigration problem of Mexicans into the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/former-mexican-president-vicente-fox-debates-immigration-issue-with-bill|work=Fox News Channel|title=Former Mexican President Vicente Fox Debates Immigration Issue with Bill|date=10 October 2007}}</ref> Finally, during an interview with [[Telemundo]]'s Rubén Luengas, the interviewer asked Fox about allegations concerning some properties of Vicente Fox's wife, [[Marta Sahagún de Fox|Marta Sahagún]]. After Fox explained the situation, he asked the interviewer not to make false accusations and to prove what he was saying. Luengas said, "I'm telling you in your face, I'm not a liar." After this, Fox walked out of the studio, calling the interviewer a "liar," "vulgar," and "stupid."<ref>[http://www.telemundo52.com/noticias/14359845/detail.html Entrevista con Vicente Fox causa polémica – Noticias – KVEA Los Angeles<!-- Bot generated title -->]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716203534/http://www.telemundo52.com/noticias/14359845/detail.html |date=16 July 2011 }}</ref>

Upon the book's release, some readers viewed several excerpts as being highly critical of U.S. President [[George W. Bush]], considered by many to be a close friend.  For example, Fox wrote that Bush was "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life," and claimed that he was surprised that Bush had ever made it to the White House.  Later, in an interview with [[Larry King]], Fox explained that this was a misunderstanding and that what he meant by calling George W. Bush "cocky" was to say he was "confident."<ref>[http://www.laopinion.com/primerapagina/?rkey=00000000000002503550 Polémica por gira de Fox<!-- Bot generated title -->]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022084351/http://www.laopinion.com/primerapagina/?rkey=00000000000002503550 |date=22 October 2007 }}</ref> Fox also referred to Bush in his autobiography as a "windshield cowboy," due to Bush's apparent fear of a horse Fox offered him to ride.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.correntewire.com/vicente_fox_bush_a_windshield_cowboy_whos_scared_of_horses|title=Vicente Fox: Bush a "windshield cowboy" who's scared of horses – Corrente|access-date=6 November 2016|archive-date=19 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219035051/http://www.correntewire.com/vicente_fox_bush_a_windshield_cowboy_whos_scared_of_horses|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum===
{{Update|date=January 2017}}
:''See: [[Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum]]''
On 12 January 2007,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://busquedas.gruporeforma.com/utilerias/imdservicios3W.DLL?JSearchformatSP&file=elnortecom/2007/nacional/articulo/707623/default.htm&palabra=biblioteca|title=Login Grupo Reforma|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> over a month after he left office, Fox announced the construction of a center of studies, library and museum that was labeled by the U.S. press as Mexico's first presidential library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20070426-9999-7m26fox.html|title=SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Mexico – Fox gets award for reform in Mexico|date=n.d.|website=signonsandiego.com|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref><ref>[http://centrofox.org.mx/cebm_c070413_1.html Centrofox.org.mx]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031934/http://centrofox.org.mx/cebm_c070413_1.html |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA040107.24A.Fox_today.3698155.html MySA.com: Metro | State]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111835/http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA040107.24A.Fox_today.3698155.html |date=29 September 2007 }}</ref> The project will be a library, museum, a center for the advancement of democracy, a study center and a hotel, and it will be completely privately funded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://busquedas.gruporeforma.com/utilerias/imdservicios3W.DLL?JSearchformatSP&file=elnortecom/2007/nacional/articulo/707855/default.htm&palabra=biblioteca&siteelnorte|title=Login Grupo Reforma|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://busquedas.gruporeforma.com/utilerias/imdservicios3W.DLL?JSearchformatSP&file=elnortecom/2007/nacional/articulo/708051/default.htm&palabra=Fox&siteelnorte|title=Login Grupo Reforma|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> It is expected to be a genuine U.S.-style presidential library. It will be built in Fox's home state of [[Guanajuato]], in his home town of [[San Francisco del Rincón]].

While museums are abundant throughout the country, there is nothing comparable to a presidential library where personal documents, records, and gifts amassed by the country's leader are open to the public.  Fox's library will be modeled after the [[Clinton Presidential Center|Bill Clinton Library]] in [[Little Rock]], Arkansas,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070218/news_1n18fox.html|title=Fox looks to cement his place in history – The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=n.d.|website=signonsandiego.com|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> which, according to the former president, will allow Mexicans to enjoy, for the first time in Mexico's history, a library in which to review the documents, images and records that made up his six years as president.<ref>[http://centrofox.org.mx/cebm_c070129.html]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012172153/http://centrofox.org.mx/cebm_c070129.html|date=12 October 2007}}</ref>

According to the official website, the construction of the center is in progress and advancing.<ref>[http://centrofox.org.mx/cebm_c070413_1.html Fox Center]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031934/http://centrofox.org.mx/cebm_c070413_1.html |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> Final completion of the library was expected by late 2007.

In 2015, Fox was interviewed by Peter High for Forbes at the library, which is called "''Centro Fox''" (the Fox Center).  During the interview, Fox remarked that the guiding principle behind the library is that "[w]e are a Latin American center that is geared around ideas, leadership, and strategies. We do it through, number one, young kids. The middle-upper class and the rest have access to the best universities. But the broader constituency does not receive any messages or aspirations of happiness in life at home."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2015/01/12/former-mexican-president-vicente-fox-pushes-mexico-to-become-technology-hub/ |title=Former Mexican President, Vicente Fox, Pushes Mexico To Become Technology Hub|website=[[Forbes]] |access-date=7 September 2017 }}</ref>

In addition to the library's completion, there has been some indications that Centro Fox was joining hands with UST Global to transform Mexico into a world-class technological economy.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article3649640.ece | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu | title=UST Global in pact with Centro Fox of Mexico | date=18 July 2012}}</ref> Fox stated in a press release that "UST Global is partnering Centro Fox to help accomplish nothing less than the transformation of my country into a world-class technology economy . . . . Together, we will establish Mexico at the forefront of the information technology revolution in the region."  These efforts appear to be ongoing.

===Centrist Democratic International===
On 20 September 2007, Fox was elected co-president of the [[Centrist Democrat International|Centrist Democratic International]] (along with the re-elected [[Pier Ferdinando Casini]]) at its leaders' meeting in Rome. The CDI is the international organization of political parties that counts Fox's party, the [[National Action Party (Mexico)|National Action Party]], as a member.<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.cdi-idc.org/news/newsdetail.php?hoofdmenuID=4&newsID=15&submenuID=49&PHPSESSID=809252cb4f10b72aeb8bcc2da4450cdd Portail d'informations Ce site est en vente!<!-- Bot generated title -->]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725151403/http://www.cdi-idc.org/news/newsdetail.php?hoofdmenuID=4&newsID=15&submenuID=49&PHPSESSID=809252cb4f10b72aeb8bcc2da4450cdd |date=25 July 2011 }}</ref>

===Statue controversy===

[[File:Vicente fox quesada estatua solo.JPG|thumb|upright|Statue of Vicente Fox in [[Boca del Río, Veracruz|Boca del Río]], Veracruz]]
In October 2007, an announcement was made in the municipality of [[Boca del Río, Veracruz|Boca del Río]], Veracruz, that a 3-meter (10&nbsp;ft) statue of Vicente Fox was to be erected to honor the former president. This aroused criticism from the opposition [[Party of the Democratic Revolution]] towards Boca del Río's mayor, who was affiliated with the same political party (PAN) as Fox.

The statue was put in place amidst protests on the dawn of 13 October 2007. The inauguration was to have been held on 14 October. Some hours after the statue was erected, a crowd of about 100 people (many of whom were members of the PRI, the political party opposed to Fox and which Fox had defeated in the 2000 election) brought the statue down by putting a rope around the statue's neck and pulling it down, damaging it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/protestors-tear-down-vicente-fox-statue/|title=Protestors Tear Down Vicente Fox Statue|work=CBS News|date=14 October 2007 |access-date=7 September 2017}}</ref> The statue was put back in place for the inauguration, then taken away for repairs.<ref>[http://www.laprensalatina.com/?p=579 La Prensa Latina » Blog Archive » Derriban estatua de Vicente Fox<!-- Bot generated title -->]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604102336/http://www.laprensalatina.com/?p=579 |date=4 June 2008 }}</ref>

PAN members accused [[Veracruz]]'s governor, [[Fidel Herrera Beltrán]], of "ordering the attack on the statue," and Fox called the governor intolerant. Others in the media argued that the installation of the statue was inappropriate, since former President Fox was facing allegations relating to an illicit enrichment scandal at the time.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

===Health===
On 7 August 2021, it was reported and confirmed that Vicente Fox and his wife Martha Sahagún were preventively admitted to a hospital in León, Guanajuato after being infected with [[COVID-19]] during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico|pandemic in Mexico]], but without serious symptoms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mexico.as.com/mexico/2021/08/08/actualidad/1628382596_202932.html|title=Vicente Fox y Martha Sahagún, hospitalizados por Covid-19|publisher=AS|date=7 August 2021|first=Adriana|last=Pacheco}}</ref>

===2023 xenophobia controversy===
Fox stirred controversy in July 2023 when he shared an image on his [[Twitter]] account criticizing some of the [[Morena (political party)|Morena]] contenders for the [[2024 Mexican general election|2024 presidential elections]] and supporting the PAN pre-candidate [[Xóchitl Gálvez]]. The image, which made reference to the contenders' ancestries, read: "[[Claudia Sheinbaum|Sheinbaum]] is a [[Bulgarian Jewry|Bulgarian Jew]], [[Marcelo Ebrard|Marcelo]] is a [[French people|French]] ''[[wiktionary:fifí|fifí]]'', [[Gerardo Fernández Noroña|Noroña]] is an alien and [[Adán Augusto López Hernández|Adán Augusto]] is from [[Transylvania]]. The only one who's Mexican is Xóchitl!".<ref>{{cite news |last1=López-Castro |first1=Fernanda |title=Vicente Fox llama 'judía búlgara' a Sheinbaum y en redes lo critican: "Xenófobo y antisemita" |url=https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2023/07/21/vicente-fox-llama-judia-bulgara-a-sheinbaum-y-en-redes-lo-critican-xenofobo-y-antisemita/ |access-date=26 August 2023 |work=Infobae |date=21 July 2023 |language=Spanish}}</ref> Fox was immediately criticized and accused of being [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] and xenophobic by social media users and politicians, even from those belonging to the PAN and the opposition to Morena, who noted that the former President himself was of [[Germans|German]] and [[Spaniards|Spanish]] ancestry. Eventually Xóchitl Gálvez herself condemned the tweet.<ref>{{cite news |last1=López-Castro |first1=Fernanda |title=Xóchitl Gálvez condena tuit de Fox sobre expresiones xenófobas contra Sheinbaum |url=https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2023/07/22/xochitl-galvez-condena-tuit-de-fox-sobre-expresiones-xenofobas-contra-sheinbaum/ |access-date=26 August 2023 |work=Infobae |date=22 July 2023 |language=Spanish}}</ref> Fox later deleted the image and on July 23 he apologized to the [[History of the Jews in Mexico|Jewish community]], stating that he had not created the image and had merely retweeted it, and affirming that he had a "profound respect for the Jewish community".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Molina |first1=Metztli |title=Fox se disculpa con la comunidad judía tras difundir mensaje antisemita contra "corcholatas" |url=https://www.debate.com.mx/politica/Fox-se-disculpa-con-la-comunidad-judia-tras-difundir-mensaje-antisemita-contra-corcholatas-20230723-0054.html |access-date=26 August 2023 |work=Debate |date=23 July 2023 |language=Spanish}}</ref>

==Honors==
* [[File:ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Cross BAR.png|60px]] Collar of the [[Order of the Liberator General San Martín]] (Argentina){{citation needed|date=October 2019}}
* [[File:POL Order Zaslugi RP kl1 BAR.svg|60px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland]] (2004)<ref>Order Zasługi RP. (2005). ''Lista osób odznaczonych Krzyżem Wielkim Orderu Zasługi RP w latach 1992-2005.'' Prezydent.pl. https://www.prezydent.pl/prezydent/kompetencje/ordery-i-odznaczenia/ordery/order-zaslugi-rp {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809220109/https://www.prezydent.pl/prezydent/kompetencje/ordery-i-odznaczenia/ordery/order-zaslugi-rp|date=9 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[File:AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 1st Class BAR.svg|60px]] Grand Star of the [[Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria]] (Austria, 2005)<ref>{{cite letter |url=http://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXIV/AB/AB_10542/imfname_251156.pdf |author=Bundeskanzler |type=Anfragebeantwortung |recipient=Barbara PRAMMER |subject=Reply to a parliamentary question regarding medals and decorations to former domestic and foreign government officials |language=de |date=23 April 2012 |page=1711 |access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref>
* [[File:LTU Order of Vytautas the Great - Grand Cross BAR.svg|60px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Vytautas the Great]] (Lithuania, 14 January 2002)<ref>Lithuanian Presidency website, [http://www.lrp.lt/lt/prezidento_veikla/apdovanojimai/apdovanojimai_256/p40.html search form] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419212238/http://www.lrp.lt/lt/prezidento_veikla/apdovanojimai/apdovanojimai_256/p40.html |date=19 April 2014 }}</ref>
* [[File:UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon.svg|60px]] Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] (United Kingdom)<ref>{{Cite web|title=HONORARY KNIGHTHOODS AWARDED 1997-2006|url=http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2009-2154/DEP2009-2154.doc|access-date=8 February 2021|website=UK Parliament Data}}</ref>
* [[File:Order of Isabella the Catholic - Sash of Collar.svg|60px]] Collar of the [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]] (Spain, 8 November 2002)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2002/11/09/pdfs/A39707-39707.pdf|title=Boletín Oficial del Estado|date=n.d.|website=boe.es|access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>
* [[File:Seraphimerorden ribbon.svg|60px]] Knight of the [[Royal Order of the Seraphim]] (Sweden, 22 October 2002)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kungahuset.se/download/18.124d504108b48b219780005734/1390581082918/Verksamhetsber%C3%A4ttelse+2002+(1,1+Mb).pdf |title=2002/27 |date=n.d. |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714131703/http://www.kungahuset.se/download/18.124d504108b48b219780005734/1390581082918/Verksamhetsber%C3%A4ttelse+2002+(1,1+Mb).pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Mexico|Biography}}
*[[History of Mexico]]
*[[List of heads of state of Mexico|List of presidents of Mexico]]
*[[Politics of Mexico]]

{{Clear right}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Schmidt, Samuel (2000). ''México encadenado: El legado de Zedillo y los retos de Fox''. México, D.F.: Colibrí.

==External links==
{{Common}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://fox.presidencia.gob.mx/ Vicente Fox website during his Presidency] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903111332/http://fox.presidencia.gob.mx/ |date=3 September 2012 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060412210244/http://www.vicentefox.org.mx/ Vicente Fox Museum and Library]
* [https://www.cidob.org/lider-politico/vicente-fox-quesada Extended bio and presidential tenure] by [[CIDOB Foundation]]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1781 Vicente Fox Interview] on [[George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight|The Hour]] with [[George Stroumboulopoulos]]
* {{IMDb name|id=1795528|name=Vicente Fox}}
* {{C-SPAN|85635}}
* [https://miguelangelmancera.org Miguel Angel Mancera Espinosa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912144701/https://miguelangelmancera.org/ |date=12 September 2017 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|mx-dpt}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Héctor Hugo Varela Flores]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico<br /> for the [[Guanajuato|3rd district of Guanajuato]]|years=1988–1991}}
{{s-aft|after=Luis Arturo Torres del Valle}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before =[[Diego Fernández de Cevallos]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[National Action Party (Mexico)|PAN]] nominee for President of Mexico|years=[[2000 Mexican general election|2000]]}} 
{{s-aft|after =[[Felipe Calderón]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ernesto Zedillo]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of Mexico]]|years=2000–2006}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Felipe Calderón]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac|unknown}} 
{{s-ttl|title=Co-President of [[Centrist Democrat International]]|years=2006–present}} 
{{s-inc}}
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jiang Zemin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairperson of [[APEC]]|years=2002}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thaksin Shinawatra]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Mexico}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Vicente}}
[[Category:Vicente Fox| ]]
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Politicians from Mexico City]]
[[Category:Politicians from Guanajuato]]
[[Category:People from San Francisco del Rincón]]
[[Category:20th-century presidents of Mexico]]
[[Category:Governors of Guanajuato]]
[[Category:Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2000 Mexican presidential election]]
[[Category:National Action Party (Mexico) politicians]]
[[Category:Independent politicians in Mexico]]
[[Category:Coca-Cola people]]
[[Category:Drug policy reform activists]]
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[[Category:Mexican people of Basque descent]]
[[Category:Mexican people of French descent]]
[[Category:Mexican people of German descent]]
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[[Category:Universidad Iberoamericana alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Business School alumni]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria]]
[[Category:Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic]]
[[Category:20th-century Mexican politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Mexican politicians]]
[[Category:Mexican people of Spanish descent]]