Balmaceda was elected to the Chilean congress from the Liberal Party in 1870. While serving in the cabinet of President Domingo Santa María (1881–86), he pushed anticlerical measures and promoted public works. As president he advanced public education and railroad construction but inherited the legislative revolt against the executive begun in the 1860s. His attempts to prevent congressional limitation of the presidential powers led to civil war in 1891. Congress, with navy support, defeated Balmaceda's forces within eight months. His defeat and subsequent suicide left parliamentary dominance firmly entrenched until the mid-1920s, when it was challenged by Arturo Alessandri.