After graduating from high school, he was accepted in the National University of San Marcos, where he obtained a bachelor's degree on Jurisprudence.

From there, he was a harsh critic of President Juan Antonio Pezet and the "Vivanco-Pareja Treaty", specifically for the way of how the government was handling the diplomatic crisis with Spain.

After the collapse of the Peruvian Southern Armies and the imminent invasion of Lima, Cándamo took part in the defense of the city, fighting in the Battles of San Juan and Miraflores.

Candamo returned to Peru after the Treaty of Ancón was signed and the war over, and is once again deported for his opposition to President Miguel Iglesias and support to Andrés Avelino Cáceres.

After Andrés Avelino Cáceres was forced to resign from the Presidency in 1894, Candamo was selected to head a "Provisional Government Junta" and to call for new elections.

He was the brother-in-law of Anglo-Peruvian guano millionaire John Pablo Bryce, and thus a great-great uncle Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, and Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, as well as a great uncle of Janet Mercedes Bryce, Marchioness of Milford Haven, wife of David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven.