Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
What failed
A metalworker who led the strikes that helped end a military dictatorship, he was arrested in 1980 and convicted in February 1981 under the regime's National Security Law; the Military Supreme Court annulled the case in April 1982. His first election, for governor of São Paulo in 1982, put him fourth. He reached the presidential runoff in 1989 and lost. He ran again in 1994 and was beaten in the first round. He ran again in 1998 and was beaten in the first round again — three presidential defeats across nine years, the last two without even reaching a second round.
What happened next
He ran a fourth time in 2002 and won the runoff with nearly sixty-two per cent, the largest number of votes any candidate had received in Brazilian history to that point.
The point
Nothing about the fourth campaign was inevitable from inside the third. He had already been told by three national electorates that the answer was no, and the only new information available to him was that he was still willing to stand.
The sequence
4 documented failures, shown with the successes in between. Every entry carries its own source — the wins are part of the record, and leaving them out is how these stories get distorted.
- 1980
Arrested for leading the metalworkers' strikes and indicted under the military government's National Security Law. Convicted in February 1981 and sentenced to three and a half years; the Military Supreme Court annulled the case in April 1982.
- 1982
His first election. He runs for governor of São Paulo and finishes fourth.
- 1986
Elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a federal deputy for São Paulo.
- 1989
He reaches the presidential runoff and loses it.
- 1994
He runs again and is beaten outright in the first round.
- 1998
He runs a third time and is beaten in the first round again.
- 2002
The fourth attempt. He wins the runoff with nearly sixty-two per cent.
Sources
- Brazil: 2002 Presidential Election (Political Database of the Americas, Georgetown University)
TOTAL | 52,912,485 | 61.43 % | 33,217,104 | 38.57 %
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Wikipedia)
He ran for president in 1989, but lost in the second round. He also lost presidential elections in 1994 and 1998. He finally became president in 2002, in a runoff.
- Em 1981, petista foi condenado por tribunal militar; ação prescreveu (Diário do Grande ABC, 25 January 2018)
A primeira condenação, de 25 de fevereiro de 1981, partiu da 2ª Auditoria da 2ª Circunscrição Judiciária Militar, em São Paulo. Ele e outros dez metalúrgicos foram sentenciados a três anos e meio de prisão. … O caso chegou ao Supremo Tribunal Militar em abril de 1982. No dia 16 daquele mês, a maioria da Corte – nove votos a três – decidiu levar o processo à Justiça Federal para ser analisado sob a Lei de Greve.
- O primeiro trabalhador chega à Presidência (Memorial da Democracia)
Foi a maior votação já obtida por um candidato na nova fase democrática do país
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