Benito Pablo Juárez García was a Zapotec Amerindian who served five terms , , , , and , as President of Mexico. For resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, as well as his efforts to modernize the country, Juárez is often regarded as Mexico's greatest and most beloved leader. He was also the first Mexican leader who did not have a military background, and the first full-blooded indigenous national to serve as President of Mexico, and the first to lead a country in the Americas in more than 300 years.