Politics (from Greek politikos “of, for, or relating to citizens”) as a term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society. It consists of “social relations involving authority or power” and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.[1]
Modern political discourse focuses on democracy and the relationship between people and politics. It is thought of as the way we “choose government officials and make decisions about public policy”.
1799 by William H. Wroth Charles Bent was the first civil governor under American rule in the territory of New Mexico. Bent was born in Charleston, Brooke County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1799 and moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri in 1806. Although Bent and his…
1643 By Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint Diego José de Vargas Zapata Luján Ponce de León y Contreras was born in Madrid in 1643 to Alonso de Vargas and María Margarita Contreras y Arráiz. His was an illustrious family, though not among the monarch's inner circle. Each…
1736 By Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint By the eighteenth century, populations from other European nations in addition to Spain were well established in the Americas. In Spain itself chronic financial difficulties all but ruled out expansion of Spanish controlled territory anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, unsubjugated,…
7 25 1858 On 25 July 1858 in Jordanville, New York, Lydia McDonald, wife of John McDonald, gave birth to a son, and they named him William Calhoun. One of nine children, William grew up in New York, attending public schools in Herkimer County and the Casenovia Seminary at…
by Suzanne Stamatov In colonial times, the king governed from Spain and depended on his representatives in the New World to uphold his laws and enact his policies. His preeminent representative in New Mexico was the governor. Appointed by the crown, the governor held military and administrative authority over…
On October 5, 1712, Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollon, who had been commissioned by Felipe V at Madrid, assumed the office of governor of New Mexico. His salary, which had been fixed by the king, was two thousand dollars per annum. Within the first year of the new governor's incumbency,…
In 1705, Admiral Joseph Chacon Medina Salazar y Villasenor, marques de la Penuela, received his appointment from the king. In 1709, a war was waged against the Navajos in retribution for raiding. Following an attack upon Jemez Pueblo, Governor Chacon's war constituted one of the most vigorous campaigns against…
Pedro Rodíiquez Cubero was born in Huéscar, in the southern province of Granada, Spain, baptized on July 29, 1656 to Antonio Rodríguez Cubero and María González Solá. Much of his early life is missing from the written record, but on June 20, 1674, he began his career in the…
12 1 1789 Born near Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania on December 1, 1789, the son of Presley, a well-to-do farmer, and Sara (Stephenson) Lane. Of English ancestry, Lane had seven brothers and three sisters. An Episcopalian and later a Baptist, he married Mary Ewing of Vincennes, Indiana on February…
1 13 1929 David Francis Cargo was born in Dowagiac, Michigan, on January 13, 1929. He received a B.A. (1951), M.A. (1953) and LL.B. (1957) all from the University of Michigan. He served with the United States Army in Germany from 1953 to 1955. He was a member of…
