Mission in Mufti: Brazil’s Military Regimes, 1964-1985

This study focuses on the regimes that governed Brazil over the twenty-one-year span ending in 1985. It also considers what obstacles the regimes could not overcome, and where that resistance came from in each of the five regimes. The term mission used in the title of the book, is chosen by the author to describe the nonmilitary mission the leaders accepted - to them a duty-oriented commitment to the people of Brazil in seizing the reins of the government from President Goulart in 1964. The other part of the title, mufti , also relates to what appears unique: each incumbent in the presidency permanently severed his hierarchical control over the armed forces by retirement from active duty, donning civilian clothes and never again appearing in uniform.