He is the grandson of Luis Alberto de Herrera who led the National Party and founded one of its most prominent sectors.

From 1972 to 1973 he served as National Representative for the Montevideo Department, but lost his seat after the dissolution of parliament with the coup d'état carried out by President Juan María Bordaberry.

In foreign policy, the Lacalle government signed the Treaty of Asunción that established the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).

[6] In August 1978, Lacalle was sent three bottles of wine tainted with poison[7] addressed to himself and two fellow National Party members (Mario Heber and Carlos Julio Pereyra) who had been trying to negotiate a way out of the military regime.

[9] In 1981, within the framework of the campaign for the 1982 primary elections in which there was a greater democratic opening, Lacalle founded the Congreso Nacional Herrerista (lit.

[10] In the 1984 general election that ended the dictatorship, he endorsed Alberto Zumarán for president, who was defeated by Julio María Sanguinetti.

[18] Upon taking office, Lacalle sent parliament a tax reform bill which was immediately passed with the support of the Colorado Party.

During his rule, he encouraged a free market program, participated in the Brady bonds plan to alleviate foreign debt obligations, and was a co-founder of the Mercosur, along with the presidents of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, which came into effect with the Treaty of Asunción in 1991.

In 1992, support for his economic reforms suffered a heavy blow when one of his most significant initiatives, a plan to privatize Uruguay's state-owned companies, was rejected by referendum.

[20] In the 1994 national elections, he selected his Interior Minister, Juan Andrés Ramírez to be the presidential candidate of the Herrerismo faction.

Among several prominent politicians who took part in his government are Héctor Gros Espiell, Sergio Abreu, Juan Andrés Ramírez, Carlos Cat and Ignacio de Posadas.

Ramírez's departure from active politics after losing the primary was the final blow, and Lacalle came in third place with 22.3% of the votes in the general elections.

Lacalle ran again for president in the 2004 elections, but the other party leaders had gathered around a single opposing candidate, Jorge Larrañaga, who defeated him in the primaries by a 2-to-1 margin.