One political scientist described his opposition campaign as "so wildly vitriolic that at times it seemed to border on insanity." In response to these incessant and sometimes brutal attacks, Liberals nicknamed Gómez “El Monstruo” (“The Monster”). The building housing the offices of El Siglo was destroyed during the Bogotazo in the aftermath of the assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitán in 1948. While other structures associated with Gómez, such as his house, a restaurant he built, and the Palacio de San Carlos, were burnt to the ground, El Siglo’s building was first set on fire, and then dynamited. In September 1953, while in exile in Spain, Gómez published letters in El Siglo denouncing the military regime then in power in Colombia. As this defied censorship policies which outlawed criticism of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla or the military government, the newspaper was closed and prohibited from publishing. Election and assumption of the presidency While the country was amidst the period of unrest called La Violencia, Gómez gained the presidency in 1950 in an election in which the Liberals refused to participate. He was inaugurated in August 1950; thereafter, he continued the state of emergency instituted by his predecessor, Mariano Ospina Pérez. Activists and sympathizers of Liberal Party and Communist Party and the members of Protestant minority were persecuted during this time. Korean War Following his inauguration Gómez ordered Colombian troops to support the United Nations Command and United States forces in the Korean War. Other Conservative Party leaders opposed Colombian involvement in this war. The party was already experiencing growing factionalism and Gomez's decision to send troops to Korea further galvanized increasing internal opposition to his rule. Nevertheless, the Colombian Battalion remained in Korea throughout the war. Attempted constitutional reform Gómez believed that strong executive power was essential for social order. In his view, governments should be run by highly educated elites who supposedly knew what was best for everyone. Although he was not the only Colombian politician who claimed that majoritarian democracy had destabilizing effects, he was one of the most strident critics of mass politics. Throughout his political career he decried Liberals who, as he saw it, inflamed the political passions of popular classes and thereby subverted the political order. He explicitly demonstrated his disdain for majoritarian democracy in 1942, when he criticized Congress for being too beholden to the popular will and vowed to give up his Senate seat