Cárdenas left office in 1940 at age 45. His departure marked the end of the social revolution and ushering in half a century of relative stability. However, in the assessment of historian Alan Knight, the 1940 election was "a requiem for Cardenismo: it revealed that hopes of a democratic succession were illusory; that electoral endorsement of the regime had to be manufactured; and that the Cardenista reforms, while creating certain loyal clienteles (some loyal from conviction, some by virtue of co-optation) had also raised up formidable opponents who now looked to take the offensive."Knight, "The Rise and Fall of Cardenismo", 301–302 He had a long and lustrous post-presidency, remaining influential in political life, and considered "the moral conscience of the Revolution".Krauze, Enrique, Mexico: Biography of Power, 480 Cárdenas and his supporters carried "reforms further than any of their predecessors in Mexico or their counterparts in other Latin American countries."Hamilton, Nora. "Lázaro Cárdenas". Encyclopedia of Mexico, 195.
Cárdenas left office in 1940 at age 45. His departure marked the end of the social revolution and ushering in half a century of relative stability. However, in the assessment of historian Alan Knight, the 1940 election was "a requiem for Cardenismo: it revealed that hopes of a democratic succession were illusory; that electoral endorsement of the regime had to be manufactured; and that the Cardenista reforms, while creating certain loyal clienteles (some loyal from conviction, some by virtue of co-optation) had also raised up formidable opponents who now looked to take the offensive."Knight, "The Rise and Fall of Cardenismo", 301–302 He had a long and lustrous post-presidency, remaining influential in political life, and considered "the moral conscience of the Revolution".Krauze, Enrique, Mexico: Biography, of Power, 480 Cárdenas and his supporters :carried "reforms further than any of their predecessors in Mexico or their counterparts in oth!er Latin American countries."Hamilton, Nora. "Lázaro Cárdenas". Encyclopedia of Mexico, 195.