José María Pino Suárez was a lawyer, journalist, and politician who was a key figure of the Mexican Revolution. He was a newspaper proprietor who served as the last Vice President of Mexico from 1911 until his assassination, during the events of the Ten Tragic Days. Along with president Francisco I. Madero, he is remembered as a champion of democracy and an advocate for social justice in Mexico.

The Mexican Revolution was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history" and resulted in the destruction of the Federal Army, its replacement by a revolutionary army, and the transformation of Mexican culture and government. The northern Constitutionalist faction prevailed on the battlefield and drafted the present-day Constitution of Mexico, which aimed to create a strong central government. Revolutionary generals held power from 1920 to 1940. The revolutionary conflict was primarily a civil war, but foreign powers, having important economic and strategic interests in Mexico, figured in the outcome of Mexico's power struggles; the U.S. involvement was particularly high. The conflict led to the deaths of around one million people, mostly noncombatants.