José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 1929)
José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez ([ˈbaʒe] or [ˈbaʃe]; 23 May 1856 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 20 October 1929), nicknamed Don Pepe, was a prominent Uruguayan politician, who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. He was the son of a former president and was widely praised for his introduction of his political system, Batllism, to South America and for his role in modernizing Uruguay through his creation of extensive welfare state reforms.
In 1898, he served as interim president for a few weeks. He was later elected to the presidency for two terms: from 1903 to 1907 and from 1911 to 1915. He remains one of the most popular Uruguayan presidents, in part due to his role as a social reformer. Influenced by Krausist liberalism, he is known for introducing unemployment compensation, eight-hour workdays, and universal suffrage, as well as free high school education.