João Goulart: a biography

João Goulart: A Biography is a fundamental work for understanding one of the most important symbols of Brazilian politics. The result of ten years of research by historian Jorge Ferreira, the book covers previously unexplored aspects of this politician whose trajectory had a decisive influence on the country's history.

To date, everything written about former president João Goulart has confined his memory to two defining days in the country's history: March 31 and April 1, 1964. Both his detractors and his supporters have confined his long and important career to those two days. To speak of João Goulart is to refer to the civil-military coup of 1964. Avoiding the pitfalls of memory, Jorge Ferreira reconstructs Goulart's biography, from his birth to his death. It is the story of a life—both public and private.

"João Goulart's biography allows historians to understand important aspects of the country's contemporary history, becoming a 'window' into the past. Many of today's economic, political, social, and cultural problems, as well as the dilemmas, contradictions, practices, and traditions of the left today, can be understood through this political past," says Ferreira.

Drawing on multiple sources, the author demonstrates Jango's political importance during Brazil's liberal-democratic period between 1946 and 1964. Having served in various spheres of public power—state deputy, federal deputy, president of the PTB (Workers' Party), Minister of Labor, twice as vice president, president of the Federal Senate, and finally as president of the Republic—Goulart succumbed to the radicalism of both the right and the left in 1964. "I will explore the biography of a man who was fundamental to the country's political past, but who is now largely forgotten. Unlike many who speak about him, for better or for worse, I will make an effort to avoid admiring or despising him. I want, in reality, to understand him," says the author.

João Goulart: a biography is the missing book about this character who marked his place in Brazilian history.