David Castro (Napoleon's World)

David Castro Reyes (July 13, 1871 - November 8, 1940) was a Colombian writer, revolutionary and President, serving two nonconsecutive terms (1916-1918; 1922-1926). He is often regarded as one of the most influential Colombians of his era and of the 20th century, as he founded the first modern Colombian political party (Las Reformistas) and led the anti-Gómez factions during the Colombian Civil War, becoming President at the height of the fighting to appease the Granadine liberals. He was influential in penning the Constitution of 1918, declining to run in that summer's Presidential race so he could focus on building a national coalition of support for the Constitution. He ran for President unopposed even by the incumbent in 1922 as the leader of the Reform Party, which took control of nearly 90% of the Colombian Congress' seats, but the Pacific War and economic turmoil disillusioned Castro and he declined to run for another term in 1926, leading to the eventual factionalization of the Reform Party. He was enthusiastically active as a Senator, as entitled to all former Presidents, until his death in 1940.