[1] The main achievements of his administration were the maintenance of economic stability with the consolidation of the Real Plan, the privatization of state-owned companies, the creation of regulatory agencies, the changes to the legislation governing civil servants and the introduction of income transfer programs such as Bolsa Escola.

[1] During Fernando Henrique Cardoso's presidency, the Brazilian economy remained stable as a consequence of the inflation control achieved with the Real Plan.

The initiatives included administrative and social security reform, deregulation of markets, flexibility in labor hiring rules and abolition of state monopolies in the steel, electricity and telecommunications sectors.

[11][18][19][20][21][22] At every crisis that occurred in other emerging countries, the Brazilian economy suffered an abrupt withdrawal of speculative international capital, forcing Fernando Henrique Cardoso to ask the IMF for help three times.

His supporters defended him by saying that upon taking office, Brazil was bankrupt and with practically no currency in dollars, requiring him to compromise on several fronts in order to stabilize the country and pass it on to his successor with properly organized finances.

[23][24][25] During Fernando Henrique Cardoso's first term in office, the imbalance led to an increase in public debt which, at present values, stands at around R$22.8 billion, according to calculations based on data from the Central Bank.

If the accounts are rejected, an investigation into the responsibility of the Executive branch bodies and their members for any irregularities is launched, which can result in fines or bans on candidates running for election.

[30][31] The creation of the Provisional Contribution on Financial Transactions (Contribuição Provisória sobre Movimentação Financeira, CPMF) and the approval of Constitutional Amendment 29, which better defined the participation of the three spheres of government in the financing of the SUS and established minimum percentages of their revenues to be invested in public health actions and services, also stand out.

[32][35][36] The approval of the Basic Care Budget (Piso de Atenção Básica - PAB), a regular and automatic transfer of federal funds, helped promote initiatives such as the Family Health Program (Programa Saúde da Família).

The Project for the Reduction of Infant Mortality (Projeto para Redução da Mortalidade Infantil - PRMI), as part of the Solidarity Community Program (Programa Comunidade Solidária), the intensification of measures to combat cigarette consumption and the approval of Law No.

As a solution, the government raised the legal reserve area for rural properties in the Amazon from 50% to 80% and banned the cutting of mahogany and virola for two years, which limited logging, one of the activities responsible for deforestation in the region.

[40][41][42][43] In 1998, large and extensive fires occurred in Roraima, which led to the implementation of the Program for the Prevention and Control of Burning and Forest Fires in the Arc of Development (Programa de Prevenção e Controle às Queimadas e Incêndios Florestais no Arco do Desenvolvimento - Proarco), aimed at reducing the practice of burning areas for pasture and plantations.

[40][44] Brazil participated actively in the development of the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement signed by the signatory countries of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions applicable exclusively to developed countries, considered to be the main contributors to the accumulation of emissions in the atmosphere since the Second Industrial Revolution.

[40][45][46] The FHC administration created the Brazilian Climate Change Forum (Fórum Brasileiro de Mudanças Climáticas) to carry out studies, advise the president and mobilize society's attention to the phenomenon identified in successive IPCC reports.

The 1916 Civil Code was replaced in 2002 to reflect the principle of equal rights and obligations between men and women in family relationships, including reproductive planning.

In 2002, FHC created the State Secretariat for Women's Rights (Secretaria de Estado dos Direitos da Mulher - Sedim).

10.098, which established issues relating to priority service and basic standards and criteria for promoting accessibility for people with disabilities or reduced mobility, respectively.

[66][67][68][69][70] In 1995, the International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the federal government, sent a delegation to Brazil to study the problem of racial discrimination in the labor market.

Initiatives such as the Brazil, Gender and Race Program (Programa Brasil, Gênero e Raça), aimed at combating racism in labor relations, emerged from this project.

[71][72] The Interministerial Working Group for the Valorization of the Black Population (Grupo de Trabalho Interministerial para Valorização da População Negra - GTI) and the National Coordination for the Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Rurais Negras Quilombolas - Conaq) were also created.

[78][79] At the end of 1995, Fernando Henrique Cardoso chose Francisco Dornelles, a deputy from the Brazilian Progressive Party (PPB), to occupy the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, which he assumed in May 1996.

FHC claimed that this represented a formal joining of the PPB in the government, but relevant members of the party including Paulo Maluf criticized him.

[92][93] As president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed the following judges to the Supreme Court: In 1998, the FHC government, supported by the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Carlos Veiga, advocated for the expansion of the United Nations Security Council to include five more permanent seats.

In 2002, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a declaration of support for Brazil's inclusion onto the council, and became the first leader of a country with a permanent seat to do so.

In November 2001, FHC criticized the USA PATRIOT Act, and declared shortly after its enactment that "if, in order to defeat terror, we have to give up individual freedoms, guarantees of civil rights, the prohibition of the use of torture, then our victory will really be nonsense".

In the same year, wiretaps published by Folha de S. Paulo revealed conversations between congressman Ronivon Santiago and another voice identified in the newspaper as Senhor X.

[113][114][83] Based on the recordings, the government's opposition, led by the PT, began to accuse Fernando Henrique Cardoso of purchasing the votes of members of parliament.

At the time, documents proved that the FHC government was aware of the power shortage risk, but the team said it was surprised by the advanced stage of the situation.

[123] In April 2014, Datafolha published a survey on the influence of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula, Joaquim Barbosa and Marina Silva on voters' decisions.