Germán Riesco Errázuriz (; May 28, 1854 – December 8, 1916) was a Chilean political figure, and he served as President of Chile between 1901 and 1906. Early life He was born in Rancagua, the son of Mauricio Riesco, a Spanish merchant and of Carlota Errázuriz Zañartu, sister of President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu, of Basque descent. He studied at the Seminario Conciliar and at the University of Chile. At the age of 17 (four years before graduating as a lawyer) he obtained his first public job as a clerk at the ministry of Justice, in order to help support his family financially. He graduated as a lawyer on April 19, 1875, and was promoted to chief clerk at the ministry in 1880. The same year he married his cousin, María Errázuriz Echaurren, thus becoming brother-in-law to future president Federico Errázuriz Echaurren. He became clerk of the Appeals Court of Santiago in 1891, and clerk of the Supreme Court in 1897. He retired from the judiciary in 1898, to dedicate himself to private practice. Presidency Germán Riesco's first incursion into politics was when he was elected as a senator for Talca in 1900. After the sudden death of president Federico Errázuriz Echaurren and due to the proximity of the presidential elections, he was proclaimed candidate by the Liberal Alliance, on March 8, 1901. This alliance was formed by the radicals, the democrats, the Balmacedists and the liberals, even though Riesco Errázuriz was more of a Conservative. From the beginning his candidacy was strongly opposed by the clerical-conservative groups. Their newspaper El Porvenir led a campaign accusing him of being a "threat against religion". Nonetheless, he was elected by a huge majority of votes, thanks mainly to the fact that he had almost no political exposure, since most of his life had been spent in the judiciary. He himself summarized his appeal by saying that he wasn't a threat to anybody. He assumed on September 18, 1901. Public policies As president Riesco was faced with crippling parliamentary divisions. He was forced to appoint no fewer than 17 different governments, each lasting an average of just three and a half months. Even though he had been elected with the support of the Liberal Alliance, he was deserted by them and had to seek the support of the Conservative Coalition (his former opponents). In the end, he had to switch back and forth between