Mexico’s esteemed five-term President Benito Juarez was born on March 21, 1806 in the small village of San Pablo Guelatao in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Juarez’s unwavering leadership created a modern civil society in Mexico after the end of Spanish rule. He was appointed governor of Oaxaca in 1848 during a tumultuous time in the country’s fragile history when Mexico was at war with the United States over land ownership.

After reorganizing state government, resisting Napoleon’s French army during the Battle of Puebla in 1862, saving the country from foreign rule and upending dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s corrupt regime, Juarez became president of Mexico.

The linchpin between the government and the people of Mexico, Juarez’s Liberal party created a new paradigm of government based on the 1857 Constitution.

Juarez, the tour-de-force of LaReforma, died in Mexico City at age 66.

On the anniversary of his birthday, how is the intrepid Juarez remembered today?