Tocornal, Joaquín (1788–1865)

Joaquín Tocornal (b. 1788; d. 1865), Chilean Conservative politician. Tocornal was the youngest man invited to the cabildo abierto (open town meeting) that elected Chile's first national junta on 18 September 1810. He became politically prominent with the Conservative rebellion of 1829–1830, serving as vice president of the Congress of Plenipotentiaries, the body that was chiefly instrumental in establishing the new Conservative regime. During the presidency of Joaquín Prieto (1831–1841), he acted as minister of the interior (1832–1835) and as finance minister (1835–1841). He assumed the interior ministry again (1837–1840) following the murder of Diego Portales (1793–1837).

Tocornal played a key part in ensuring the continuity of government. Despite his ministerial eminence, however, he was unable to win Prieto's approval for his own presidential candidacy in 1841. Prieto preferred the war hero General Manuel Bulnes (1799–1866): Tocornal did not obtain a single vote in the electoral college. He did retain his influence in the Conservative Party, however, and in January 1858 he helped negotiate the formation of the Liberal-Conservative Fusion. His son Manuel Antonio Tocornal (1817–1867) played a prominent part in politics in 1849–1850 and again in the 1860s as a Fusion leader. Had he not died prematurely, he might well have been the Fusion's presidential candidate in 1871.

See alsoBulnes Prieto, Manuel; Chile, Political Parties: Conservative Party; Chile, Political Parties: Liberal-Conservative Fusion (Liberal-Conservadora); Portales Palazuelos, Diego José Pedro Víctor; Prieto Vial, Joaquín.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Additional Bibliography

Collier, Simon. Chile: The Making of a Republic, 1830–1865. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

                                        Simon Collier