Three men would dominate politics in this era: Benito Juárez, Porfirio Díaz, and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.

The capital returned to Republican rule shortly afterwards before the end of June, and President Juarez entered the city on the morning of July 15, accompanied by his ministers José María Iglesias and Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada who would both go on to play notable roles during the era of the Restored Republic.

[7] Juárez reentered the capital on the morning of July 15th, to public acclaim, the ringing of bells, and ceremonial artillery fire.

[9] Juárez used his emergency presidential powers to abrogate a law of confiscation that was reducing collaborationist families to poverty, instead replacing their penalty with a fine.

The Caste War continued to flare up in Yucatan, and the Revolución de los Ríos had broken out among the Yaqui and the Mayo in Sonora.

[14] A more serious insurrection occurred at the end of the year at San Luis Potosi, headed by Francisco Aguirre, Martinez, and Larranaga.

An opposition party, calling itself constitutionalist and supporting the candidacy of Porfirio Diaz now emerged, but when elections were held in October, 1867 Juarez obtained a majority of the votes.

[16] On October 13, 1870, congress passed a general amnesty law absolving anyone accused of treason, with the exception of certain high officials and deserters who had worked with the Second Mexican Empire.

[17] President Juarez had provoked opposition by choosing to retain the same ministers he had held during his term of emergency powers during the French Intervention.

Juarez had great prestige and substantial support, but liberal critics believed that successive reelections were against the spirit of democracy.

[20] None of the candidates achieved a majority and the selection of the winner then fell upon congress which on October 12, 1871, chose Juarez who was inaugurated on December 1 amidst accusations of electoral fraud.

On November 8, 1871, he issued from the town of La Noria a manifesto proclaiming loyalty to the constitution of 1857 and electoral freedom, and called forth a plan for reconstituting the nation.

[22] The rebels gained support throughout the country, but suffered a significant defeat at Cerro de la Bufa in Zacatecas.

Matias Romero and Castillo Velasco resigned, and Juarez had to shuffle his cabinet, with Joaquín Ruiz refusing the offer to serve as Minister of Justice and Public instruction.

[25] President Juarez began to experience heart problems in July, 1872 and he died on the 18th, before the Plan of La Noria had been entirely suppressed.

[30] In 1873, the Lerdo government had to deal with an insurrection led by the indigenous leader, Manuel Lozada in Tepic in the western part of the country.

[34] Violence was nonetheless rampant throughout the nation, the aforementioned law against bandits being extended, and a decree of 1875 stripping them of all citizen's rights within the court system.

[35] Amidst increasing opposition to his rule, such as from prominent liberal general Vicente Riva Palacio who accused the president of violating the constitution,[36] Lerdo decided to run for reelection in 1876.

He marched against Oaxaca City with two thousand poorly armed indigenous troops and the garrison there joined him without firing a shot.

[39] In November, 1876, president of the supreme court José María Iglesias condemned the presidential elections that had just occurred as fraudulent, and from the town of Salamanca, Guanajuato, called upon the nation to overthrow Lerdo.

[40] Iglesias now, claiming to be president headed to Guanajuato with two of his chosen ministers, Guillermo Prieto and Felipe Berriozábal, where they were received with great enthusiasm.

[45] Diaz released a manifesto emphasizing the liberal progressive character of his movement and inviting men of all factions to cooperate within his government, in contrast to Lerdo, who had kept the same clique of Juaristas throughout his presidency.

[49] In 1871, a commission led by Manuel Fernández Leal, the acting Minister of Development, surveyed and mapped the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, during which the engineer Agustín Barroso, also cataloged the variety of local plants.

[54] Don Jose Tomar de Cuellar similarly published work in the genre in the era of the Restored Republic.

[59] The poet José Peón Contreras published Romances Históricos mexicanos (Mexican Historical Ballads), a collection of poetry in 1873.

[61]Other playwrights active during the Restored Republic included Manuel Peredo, Enrique de Olavarría y Ferrari, and Justo Sierra.

[62] The historian and statesman, Francisco Bulnes began his literary career during this period, not through a work of history however, but through a travelogue Sobre el Hemisferio Norte Once Mil Leguas (Eleven Thousand Leagues Over the Northern Hemisphere), detailing his participation in the Mexican scientific commission tasked with observing the 1874 transit of Venus from Japan.

[71] Extensive drainage projects for the Valley of Mexico were engaged in throughout the Restored Republic to mitigate flooding and improve sanitary conditions.

[72] A an audit of Mexico's telegraphic network presented by the Ministry of Development to Congress in 1870, reported that there were four government lines then in operation: one from Mexico City to Leon, through Queretaro; one from Queretaro to San Luis Potosi, with a branch from Dolores Hidalgo to Guanajuato; one from San Luis Potosi to Matehuala, with a branch from Saltillo to Monterrey; and one from Sisal to Mérida.