Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; November 22, 1898 – August 22, 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1930 to 1941 and senator for Tarapacá and Antofagasta from 1945 to 1946. A long-time member and leader in the Radical Party, he left the party in 1971 over its support for socialist president Salvador Allende. From 1973 until his death in 1980 he became an active collaborator and participant in the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, acting as vice president of the Council of State from 1976 onwards. As vice president of the council, he helped draft the current Chilean constitution of 1980. Early life González was born in the coastal city of La Serena on November 22, 1898 to parents Gabriel González Castillo and Teresa Videla Zepeda, who were of Spanish descent. He was the oldest of eighteen children. After graduating from the Liceo de La Serena, González went on to study law at the University of Chile. He graduated in 1922, the same year his father became paralyzed. As a result of his father's paralysis, González returned to La Serena to help his family. He became a freemason in 1924. In 1915, González joined the youth wing of the Radical Party, later becoming a member of the Radical Assembly of La Serena. González was involved in protests against the military government established in 1924 by Luis Altamirano. In 1927, he made declarations against President Carlos Ibáñez and had to go into hiding. Once Ibáñez's government fell in 1931, González was able to resume his political activities and was president of the Radical Party from 1931 to 1937. González was elected deputy for the district comprising La Serena, Coquimbo, Elqui, Ovalle, Combarbalá, and Illapel in 1930. However, the coup led by socialist Marmaduque Grove in 1932 dissolved Congress. González was once again elected deputy for this same area in 1933 and reelected in 1937. In 1939 he resigned because President Pedro Aguirre Cerda named him ambassador to France first, then to Portugal (1940), and finally to Brazil (1942). 1942 presidential campaign In 1941, due to his rapidly escalating illness, President Aguirre Cerda appointed his minister of the Interior, Jerónimo Méndez as vice-president and died soon after, on November 25, 1941. Presidential elections were called for February 1,