Born of Indian parents, Huerta trained at the Chapultepec Military College and eventually rose to the rank of general in the army during the rule of the dictator Porfirio Díaz. Though an admirer of Díaz, Huerta served his successor, the liberal President Francisco Madero, as chief of staff of the army. When part of the army in Mexico City rebelled against Madero in February 1913, Huerta joined forces with the rebels, compelled Madero to resign, and assumed the presidency himself. Madero was shot a few days later on Huerta's orders.

Huerta dissolved the legislature and established a military dictatorship. His rule was both inefficient and severely repressive, and he was almost immediately confronted with opposition from constitutionalist forces led by Venustiano Carranza, Álvaro Obregón, Pancho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata. They won the support of Woodrow Wilson, the newly elected U.S. president, who refused to recognize Huerta, sent troops to occupy Veracruz, and permitted arms to reach the rebels. Defeated by the constitutionalist forces, Huerta resigned on July 15, 1914, and fled to Spain. He went to the United States in 1915, was arrested on charges of fomenting rebellion in Mexico, and died in custody at Fort Bliss.