Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada

Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada (22 March 1895 – 2 May 1955) was a Mexican military officer and politician who served as secretary of the navy from 1952 until his death in 1955, during the presidency of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines. He previously served as the governor of the territory of Baja California from 1937 to 1944 and as president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) from 1946 to 1952.

Born in the state of Puebla, Sánchez Taboada attended the University of Puebla before dropping out to join the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revolution. He took part in the assassination of Emiliano Zapata in 1919, and subsequently rose through the ranks, supporting the government during several rebellions. He was appointed as governor of Baja California, then a federal territory, in 1937 by President Lázaro Cárdenas. As governor, Sánchez Taboada promoted the Good Neighbor policy with the United States. He resigned in 1944 and returend to service in the army.

In 1946, Sánchez Taboada became the president of the ruling PRI, and was reelected the position in 1950, the first to do so. He implemented an anti-communist platform for the party and directed the successful presidential campaign of Ruiz Cortines in 1952. He also mentored and gave appointments to a generation of future PRI politicians, the most prominent of which was Luis Echeverría, a future president of Mexico. In 1952, he left his position to become secretary of the navy under Ruiz Cortines. He oversaw the implementation of the March to the Sea program, which sought to modernize and expand the usage of the country's martime resources. He died in office in 1955. Several locations have been named after him, including Mexicali International Airport and a borough in Tijuana.