to abolish slavery and the establishment of the Republic. Peçanha was married to Ana de Castro Belisário Soares de Sousa, also known as "Anita", the descendant of an aristocratic and wealthy family from his birth city. She was a daughter of lawyer João Belisário Soares de Souza and of Ana Rachel Ribeiro de Castro, who was herself a daughter of the Viscount of Santa Rita, one of the richest men in northern Rio de Janeiro State. The marriage was a social scandal since the bride escaped her house to marry her poor and "mulatto" groom, despite his status as a promising young politician. He worked as a lawyer and a university teacher in the Faculdade Livre de Direito do Rio de Janeiro. Peçanha started his formal political career as an elected member of the first Republican Constituent Assembly in 1890. His political career advanced rapidly as a protégé of Campos Sales, who became President in 1898. In 1903 he was successively elected Senator and then President (Governor) of the state of Rio de Janeiro, remaining in the latter position until 1906, when he was elected vice-president under President Afonso Pena. As Vice President, he also served as the President of the Senate. Pena died in 1909 while still in office and Peçanha assumed the presidency promising a government of Paz e Amor (Peace and Love). He was 41 years old, the youngest Brazilian president up until then. His presidential government had many political troubles and Nilo Peçanha proved himself a man of wit and courage. The balance of power of the Brazilian República Velha (Old Republic) was a compromise of the governing elites of the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. The deceased president, Afonso Pena, was elected with the support of this political alliance, but Peçanha assumed the presidency through being his vice-president and friction between the state oligarchies intensified. His government was also marked by friction with José Gomes Pinheiro Machado, the most powerful political leader of the Conservative Republican Party. Rui Barbosa started a run for the presidency promoting the "Campanha Civilista" (civilist campaign) against the Marshal Hermes da Fonseca, and attracted the opposition and discontent of the military. Federal intervention was required in the government of the Rio de Janeiro and Amazonas states. Peçanha was a man of sharp political wit who carved a practical and non-doctrinaire course between the positivists and the idealistic adherents