He was forced to teach himself the basics while also practicing in the law firm of his father and his business partner, Alejandro Botero Uribe, who would later become Minister of Government in 1909.

[8] Restrepo was also involved in journalism and he collaborated in many magazines and newspapers of Antioquia, such as La Miscelánea (1888, 1905),[13] Lectura y Arte (1903), Alpha (1906, 1907, 1908, 1910) and "el Diario de Pedro",[14] with articles of political, literary, and religious subjects, and also helped with some translations.

[15] Restrepo also founded and directed "Colombia" in 1891,[16] which was a newspaper severely censured by the bishops of the Catholic Church as they considered most dangerous due to its anticlerical and pro-lay stands and teachings.

[18] He worked in poetry and wrote an extensive number of essays and letters[19] to friends and family due to the lack of local newspapers to express his opinions.

Some of his works are: Initially, Restrepo refused to run for the presidential candidature, and he did not have the support from the rest of the Representatives of Antioquia for his solid stand on Republicanism.

However, there were a growing number of members who gave their support to Restrepo for fear of war against Peru, for his solid law background, and for his eloquence as an orator.

For all of these reasons, Restrepo was quickly included as a Presidential Candidate in the National Assembly of 1910, along with Guillermo Quintero Calderón, and José Vicente Concha.

Some of the policies that took place during Restrepo's mandate were the abolition of the capital punishment, the annual meeting of Congress, the installment of life pensions for retired teachers, and the constructions of various hospitals in the Caribbean Region to combat tropical diseases.

The Casa Arana, a Peru-based rubber company, had expanded into Colombian territory, and was exploiting its resources and oppressing the Indigenous people of this region.

Colombia's Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Enrique Olaya, who had the total support of the president, handled the matter with a hand great efficacy.

On July 15, 1911, Olaya Herrera, and his Peruvian counterpart, Ernesto de Tezanos Pinto, signed a modus vivendi agreement.

[32] This alone would not have ended the conflict, if it were not because there was a beriberi and yellow fever outbreak within the Peruvian army in the area, causing a great number of casualties.

Restrepo was also critical of the United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution, which he considered as a "violation of the rights of and an attack on international justice".

[34] On April 6, 1914, during the administrations of Presidents Restrepo and Woodrow Wilson, and after months of negotiations, the United States Ambassador to Colombia Thaddeus Austin Thompson and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco José Urrutia, signed the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty,[35] where Colombia recognized Panama's independence, and received free access to the Panama Canal, and the United States offered an official apology for its involvement in the separation, and offered to pay $25 million as compensation to the Colombian government.

Restrepo's presidential term ended on August 7, 1914, he was succeeded by José Vicente Concha, whom he had defeated in the previous election.

[38] Carlos Eugenio Restrepo died on July 6, 1937,[39] in his home in his natal city of Medellín at the age of 69 following an attack of pneumonia.

Carlos E. Restrepo and General Pedro Nel Ospina were the intellectuals of the new republican conservative party, which promoted the ideals of political reconciliation and moderation between partisan lines.

[40] During his time he was regarded as one of the most progressive and modern South American statesmen, a lawyer with wide experience, and an author of high reputation.