General La Mar succeeded Bolivar in the presidency; but as his native province, Quito, had been separated from Peru by the Liberator, and included in the new republic of Colombia, his election was declared null and void by a clause of the constitution, which provided that the president should be a Peruvian by birth. He hoped, however, to annex his native territory to Peru and thus legalize his position; and the opportunity to make the attempt came as a result of his interference in the affairs of Bolivia, which caused the abdication of General Sucre and the election of General Andrés Santa Cruz as president of that country. Bolivar resented the proceeding and declared war on Peru, to which La Mar responded by marching into Guayaquil with an army of four thousand men and taking possession of the city. He was forced to retreat before the Colombian army and withdrew to Piura, where he received news of his deposition from the presidency and of the election of General Gamarra, a native of Cuzco, who was inaugurated on August 31, 1829. The military spirit was too strong, and the principles of representative government were too little understood in the beginning of the new life of Peru to admit of a strict conformity to the republican constitution; and it is not surprising that the descendants of a race of soldiers, with all the traditions implanted by an absolute monarchy, should err at first in their interpretation of political freedom. It was to be expected that the heroes of the Independence would be chosen to fill the highest places of honor in the new government, although the very nature and disposition of a successful military leader often disqualify him for the duties of civil administration. The earlier presidents were all men who had fought for the Independence, and with the exception of La Fuente (vice-president in La Mar’s cabinet and president in the interim), Orbegoso, and Vidal, they had been identified with the victory of Ayacucho.