[3] In October 2006, Lula was reelected to the presidency, defeating the PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin in the second round, obtaining more than 60% of the valid votes against 39.17% for his opponent.

[5][6][7] Its main hallmarks were the maintenance of economic stability, the resumption of the country's growth, and the reduction of poverty and social inequality.

[9] The growth was driven by the rise in commodity prices, domestic demand, helped by programs like Bolsa Família and the reduction in international interest rates.

[25] Still during the election campaign, Lula wrote the Letter to the Brazilian people where he assured that in case of his victory his party, the Workers', would respect national and international contracts.

As in the inauguration of the first mandate, the reelected president and vice-president read and signed the term of office, and then the national anthem was played by the Marine Band.

[30] To this end, he nominated Henrique Meirelles, a federal deputy elected by the PSDB of Goiás in 2002, to head the Brazilian Central Bank, sending a strong signal to the market – especially the international market, where Meirelles is well known for having been the president of Bank Boston – that there would be no abrupt changes in the conduct of economic policy in his government.

[31] He appointed Antônio Palocci, a sanitarian physician and former mayor of Ribeirão Preto, a member of the Workers' Party, as Minister of Finance.

[34] During President Lula's administration there was a record production in the automobile industry in 2005, the largest real growth in the minimum wage[35] and reduction of the Gini coefficient.

[36] In 2010, Alan Mulally, Ford's global president, stated that thanks to the incentive programmes of Lula's government, it was possible for the country to effectively come out of the world crisis.

[45] A goal of Lula's foreign policy was for the country to gain a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

[49][50] Brazil's state-run Brazilian Development Bank gave $300 million to Odebrecht to build new roads, rail lines, wharves, and warehouses at Mariel.

[53] In May 2010, Lula and Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan negotiated a preliminary fuel swap agreement with the Iranian government on uranium enrichment, that ultimately failed.

[54] The preliminary agreement that they presented to the United Nations was at odds with what the International Atomic Energy Agency and other countries viewed as necessary actions to stop Iran from obtaining weapons grade materials.

[54] Moisés Naím, editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine and former Minister of Trade in Venezuela, said "Lula is a political giant, but morally he has been a deep disappointment".