[1] Born to a wealthy family of Spanish and Austrian descent, Moncada rose to fame as one of the principal Conservative generals responsible for the overthrow of the Liberal dictator José Santos Zelaya in 1910.

The Liberal Party, which "advocated manhood suffrage, separation of Church and State, and the advancement of the material wealth of the country",[2] held power between 1893 and 1909 under the control of President José Santos Zelaya.

Although Chamorro offered to resign in favor of a designated successor, the U.S. State Department "insisted upon the selection of its favorite, Adolfo Díaz, as provisional president".

Emiliano Chamorro and José María Moncada agreed to the armistice, but "the peace talks failed because of the refusal of the Liberals to accept a compromise government".

[14] Nicaraguans were provided the opportunity to vote and, after the Liberal Party's electoral victory, "José María Moncada was installed as Nicaragua’s president".

[15] Moncada's victory surprised many Nicaraguans since his opponent, Adolfo Díaz of the Conservative Party, was a close ally of the US who "owed [it] his entire political career".

[16] His victory, however, had been assured "by the settlement imposed by President Coolidge's special emissary Henry Stimson to end the brief civil war between Conservatives and Liberals in 1927".

Sandino's violent response to the election of Moncada, however, ensured that US Marines would remain in the country for the foreseeable future since the "1927 Stimson ultimatum had disbanded Nicaragua’s partisan armed forces".

One the latter's granddaughters, Maria Elena Amador Valerio, married Guillermo F. Pérez-Argüello, the oldest great-grandson of Doña Angélica Balladares de Argüello (1872–1973), who was Pres.

It was during his triumphant entrance to Granada, in June 1927, that the then General Moncada demanded she be accorded the appellation of "Liberal Heroine" as a result of what he termed "her colossal struggles during the Nicaraguan Constitutional War".

From an historical perspective, and as this was reported in various newspapers, most notably in the front page of the Diario Moderno's 14 June 1927 edition, it was thus as of that date, which continued up to her own death at the age of 101, that she, a descendant of the Western Hemisphere's branch of the House of Plantagenet and its most celebrated Nicaraguan female member, became known as the "1st Lady of Liberalism" .