Araujo was succeeded as president by Carlos Meléndez, who eventually formed a political dynasty that ruled El Salvador until 1931.

Manuel Enrique Araujo was born on 12 October 1865 in Hacienda Condadillo, Estanzuelas in the department of Usulután, El Salvador.

[6] Araujo's opponents were Doctor Esteban Castro[8] and General Luis Alonso Barahona,[6] who had previously run for president in 1907.

[12][13] Araujo was afraid that Cabrera and allied Salvadoran exiles would seek to overthrow him and he thus sought to retain high popular support within El Salvador in order to dissuade a potential for a coup d'état.

[17] In an interview with Diario del Salvador's Alberto Masferrer titled "The New Ideas in the Government" ("Las Nuevas Ideas en el Gobierno"), Araujo stated that he also planned to implement an agrarian reform, establish free medical centers in rural areas, and establish mounts of piety to lend money at low interest rates, however, these reforms were never implemented.

In commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the 1811 Independence Movement, Araujo inaugurated the Monument to the Heroes of 1811 in the Libertad Plaza.

[28] William Heimké, a United States envoy to El Salvador, wanted to acquire commercial privileges for American companies in El Salvador and to establish an extradition treaty, but Araujo's government refused to grant either due to Araujo's desire to avoid being dependent on any major power.

[29] Araujo was critical of the United States' military intervention in Nicaragua to support conservative president Adolfo Díaz — a U.S. ally — against a liberal rebellion led by Luis Mena.

Despite this failure, Araujo continued to condemn the intervention as a violation of the 1907 Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity.

[35] On 4 February 1913, Araujo attended a concert at the Bolívar Park (today the Gerardo Barrios Plaza) in San Salvador.

Araujo's friends rushed him to a pharmacy where he lost consciousness due to massive blood loss.

On 9 February 1913, eleven doctors operated on Araujo to remove bone splinters from his face, but his injuries had become infected.

Araujo fell into a coma and died at 4 p.m., but not before receiving an anointing from Antonio Adolfo Pérez y Aguilar, the bishop of San Salvador.

[6] Three indigenous farmers — Mulatillo Virgilio, Fabián Graciano, and Fermín Pérez — were arrested for their involvement in Araujo's assassination.

[3][36] At the time, U.S. diplomats privately believed that Cabrera had ordered the assassination who feared that Araujo sought to unite Central America under his rule.

[34] Thomas Hohler, the chargé d'affaires of the United Kingdom to El Salvador, wrote in his 1942 book Diplomatic Petrel that be believed that Araujo's assassination was carried out for "purely private reasons" rather than being politically motivated.

[38] White believed that Araujo was "probably" assassinated on Alfaro's orders in an attempt to overthrow the pragmatic liberals from power.

Araujo lay in state in the National Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador from 10 to 12 February 1913.

[3] The Monument to the Divine Savior of the World, located in San Salvador, was built on top of a pedestal that was originally used to decorate Araujo's tomb.

As a result, Araujo was succeeded by Carlos Meléndez, the then-incumbent president of the Legislative Assembly, as he was the first presidential designate.