[4] Later that year, the Supreme Court of Justice appointed Romero to serve as the supplementary judge of the 1st circuit of the San Salvador Department.

[6] On 12 March 1903, President Pedro José Escalón appointed Romero as El Salvador's vice secretary of governance and development.

He was promoted to serve as minister of governance, development, and public instruction later that year, succeeding Doctor José Rosa Pacas.

[9] Quiñónez's government sent telegrams to polling stations across El Salvador instructing them to rig votes in favor of Meléndez first and Romero second.

Romero ran for office unopposed and won the election unanimously on 13 January 1927 as a member of the ruling National Democratic Party.

[20] Cornelius Van Hemert Engert, the United States chargé d'affaires to El Salvador, described Romero as "weak and irresolute".

Jefferson Caffery, the United States ambassador to El Salvador, referred to Romero as a man "of no particular force, and with probably no superfluous amount of backbone".

[23] Romero also lifted a state of emergency which was in effect throughout Quiñónez's presidency, ended press censorship, allowed public demonstrations.

[15] These reforms led to public protests against Quiñónez's appointment as the first presidential designate, and students from the University of El Salvador called for his resignation.

After pressure from Romero's supporters, protestors, and even some high-ranking military officers, Quiñónez resigned and left the country for exile in France.

[24] In December 1927, Jorge Meléndez, Quiñónez, and their allies plotted a coup to overthrow Romero in an attempt to continue the political dynasty that their families had created.

[2][c] In 1971, conservative Salvadoran editorialist Juan Ulloa blamed Romero's democratic reforms as directly causing La Matanza and accused him of "knowing its [communist] leaders" ("conoció sus lideres [comunistas]").