From January to September of that year, he was a member of the Civic-Military Directory which ruled El Salvador at that time.

As president, he signed the Alianza para el Progreso with the United States and accepted a good amount of money to build low-cost housing for Salvadorans, such as the Zacamil buildings and other public works.

The Times Magazines from March 16, 1962, said "Colonel Julio Rivera, is loosening the control of "the 14," a group of land and banking families who have ruled the country since Spanish colonial days", and recognized the biggest effort from the 19 Latin American countries that signed the document during the term of U.S. President John F.

[citation needed] At the same time, he started a Secret Service called ANSESAL and the head of this agency was Coronel Medrano, a CIA informant.

During his tenure as president, he was often seen driving through the streets of San Salvador on his 1965 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.