and reached rank of Army General on 25 November 1961. Involvement in politics During the Presidency of João Goulart, Costa e Silva put down left-wing student demonstrations that broke out in the Northeast and subsequently was removed from command of the 4th Army. By the end of 1963 he actively participated in the plot that overthrew Goulart, who was accused of aligning with Communists during the Cold War tension. After the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état Costa e Silva was appointed the Minister of War on 1 April 1964, and remained in that post during the Presidency of Castelo Branco. As Minister of War, Costa e Silva defended interests of hard-liners, the ultra-right faction of the Armed Forces. As such he was considered an acceptable candidate to succeed Castelo Branco, who was judged to be too liberal. This also served well to isolate from power more moderate soldiers – such as future President Ernesto Geisel and his future chief aide Golbery do Couto e Silva. Presidency (1967-1969) Under the Constitution of 1967, the President was to be elected indirectly, by an absolute majority of both houses of Congress. Costa e Silva was nominated as the candidate of the military-backed National Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA); he was the only candidate. In any event, ARENA's dominance of Congress was so absolute that the presidential campaign essentially ended with Costa e Silva's nomination. He was duly elected on 3 October 1966, by a vote of 295–0, with 41 abstentions and 136 members not voting. He was sworn in on 15 March 1967. While Costa e Silva was campaigning for the Presidency of the Republic, he barely escaped death during a left-wing guerrilla attack at Guararapes International Airport in Recife on 25 July 1966. The attack happened while he was waiting with around 300 other people at the airport. Since the airplane that was supposed to take him had broken down earlier that day in João Pessoa, Costa e Silva decided to leave Recife by automobile, thereby avoiding the assault which left several men dead or injured in what became known as the Attack of the Guararapes. As President, he outlawed the Broad Front (Frente Ampla), an opposition movement that had brought together politicians from the pre-1964 period. He fought against inflation, revised government salaries and enlarged foreign trade. He also began a reform of the administrative organs, expanded the communication and transportation systems, but