Ferdinand Marcos

For his son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., see Bongbong Marcos.

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Edralin and the surname or paternal family name is Marcos.

Ferdinand Marcos
Marcos in 1982
10th President of the Philippines
In office
December 30, 1965 – February 25, 1986
Prime Minister
Vice President
  • Fernando Lopez (1965–1972)
  • Abolished (1972–1984)
  • Vacant (1984–1986)
Preceded byDiosdado Macapagal
Succeeded byCorazon Aquino
3rd Prime Minister of the Philippines
In office
June 12, 1978 – June 30, 1981
Preceded byOffice re-established;
position previously held by Pedro Paterno
Succeeded byCesar Virata
Secretary of National Defense
In office
August 28, 1971 – January 3, 1972
PresidentHimself
Preceded byJuan Ponce Enrile
Succeeded byJuan Ponce Enrile
In office
December 31, 1965 – January 20, 1967
PresidentHimself
Preceded byMacario Peralta
Succeeded byErnesto Mata
Political offices 1949‍–‍1965
9th President of the Senate of the Philippines
In office
April 5, 1963 – December 30, 1965
PresidentDiosdado Macapagal
Preceded byEulogio Rodriguez
Succeeded byArturo Tolentino
Senate Minority Leader
In office
January 25, 1960 – January 22, 1962
Preceded byAmbrosio Padilla
Succeeded byEstanislao Fernandez
Senator of the Philippines
In office
December 30, 1959 – December 30, 1965
Member of the House of Representatives from Ilocos Norte's 2nd district
In office
December 30, 1949 – December 30, 1959
Preceded byPedro Albano
Succeeded bySimeon M. Valdez
Personal details
Born
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos

(1917-09-11)September 11, 1917
Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, Philippines[a]
DiedSeptember 28, 1989(1989-09-28) (aged 72)
Honolulu, Hawaii, US
Resting place
Political partyKilusang Bagong Lipunan (1978–89)
Other political
affiliations
Spouses
Carmen Ortega (common‑law)
​
​
(before 1954)​
[4]
​
(m. 1954)​
Children9, including Imee, Bongbong, Irene, and Aimee
Parent
RelativesMarcos family
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines Manila (LL.B)
Occupation
Signature
Nicknames
  • Apo Lakay
  • Ferdie
  • Macoy
Military service
Allegiance
  • Philippines
  • United States[b]
Years of service1942–1945
Rank
Unit
Battles/warsWorld War II
This article is part of a series
about
Ferdinand Marcos

Presidency

First term
Second term
Martial law
Third and fourth terms

Family

Unexplained wealth

Legacy

Related


President of the Philippines

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr.[c] (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator[7][8][9] and kleptocrat[10][11][12] who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Marcos ruled the country under martial law from 1972 to 1981,[13] and with vastly expanded powers under the 1973 Constitution until he was deposed by a nonviolent revolution in 1986. Marcos described his rule's philosophy as "constitutional authoritarianism"[14][15]: 414  under his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (New Society Movement). One of the most controversial figures in Filipino history, Marcos's regime was infamous for its corruption,[16][17][18] extravagance,[19][20][21] and brutality.[22][23][24]

Marcos gained political success by claiming to have been the "most decorated war hero in the Philippines",[25] but many of his claims have been found to be false,[26][27][28] with United States Army documents describing his wartime claims as "fraudulent" and "absurd".[29][30] After World War II, he became a lawyer, and then served in the Philippine House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the Philippine Senate from 1959 to 1965. He was elected president of the Philippines in 1965 and presided over an economy that grew during the beginning of his 20-year rule[31] but would end in the loss of livelihood and extreme poverty for almost half the Philippine population,[32][33] together with a crushing debt crisis.[34][33] He pursued an aggressive program of infrastructure development funded by foreign debt,[35][36] making him popular during his first term, although it triggered an inflationary crisis which led to social unrest in his second term.[37][38] Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972,[39][40] shortly before the end of his second term. Martial law was ratified in 1973 through a fraudulent referendum.[41]: 191  The constitution was revised, media outlets were silenced,[42] and violence and oppression were used[24] against the political opposition,[43][44] Muslims,[45] suspected communists,[46][47] and ordinary citizens.[44]

After being elected for a third term in the 1981 presidential election and referendum, Marcos's popularity suffered greatly, due to the economic collapse that began in early 1983 and the public outrage over the assassination of opposition leader Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. later that year. This discontent, the resulting resurgence of the opposition in the 1984 parliamentary election, and the discovery of documents exposing his financial accounts and false war records led Marcos to call the snap election of 1986. Allegations of mass electoral fraud, political turmoil, and human rights abuses led to the People Power Revolution of February 1986, which removed him from power.[48] To avoid what could have been a military confrontation in Manila between pro- and anti-Marcos troops, Marcos was advised by US president Ronald Reagan through Senator Paul Laxalt to "cut and cut cleanly".[49] Marcos then fled with his family to Hawaii.[50] He was succeeded as president by Aquino's widow, Corazon "Cory" Aquino.[51][52][53]

According to source documents provided by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG),[54] the Marcos family stole US$5 billion–$10 billion from the Central Bank of the Philippines.[55][56] The PCGG also maintained that the Marcos family enjoyed a decadent lifestyle, taking away billions of dollars[57] from the Philippines[58][59] between 1965 and 1986. His wife, Imelda Marcos, made infamous in her own right by the excesses that characterized her and her husband's "conjugal dictatorship",[60][61][62] is the source of the term Imeldific.[63] Two of their children, Imee and Bongbong, are active in Philippine politics, with Bongbong having been elected president in the 2022 presidential election. Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos held the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever theft from a government for decades,[64] although Guinness took the record down from their website while it underwent periodic review a few weeks before the 2022 election.[65]


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