Ramón Barros Luco

Ramón Barros Luco was President of Chile from 1910 to 1915. A lawyer born in Santiago in 1835, he spent decades in the Chilean Congress, first as a deputy for many districts from 1861 and later as senator for Linares from 1900 to 1906. As president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1891 he supported the move by Congress to remove President José Manuel Balmaceda, and he later served as a minister when a safe pair of hands was needed. Chosen in 1910 as a compromise candidate acceptable to both liberals and nationals, he presided over the parliamentary period in which cabinets rose and fell constantly. He is remembered for a saying that ninety nine percent of problems solve themselves, and for his rotary cabinet system.