Early life Campos was born in
Cuiabá, in the state of
Mato Grosso,
Brazil. Initially planning to enter the priesthood, he enrolled in a Catholic seminary in
Guaxupé. Later, he received degrees in
philosophy and
theology from a seminary in
Belo Horizonte. The first military president, Marshall
Castelo Branco, appointed Campos as his Minister of Planning – and chief economic policy maker, jointly with the Finance Minister
Octavio Gouvea de Bulhões – in which capacity he enacted various pro-business and pro-foreign capital – as well as anti-organized-labour – reforms that aimed to modernize the Brazilian economy in a liberal sense. His sympathies for an inconditional pro-American foreign policy and foreign-capital-friendly economic policies earned him, already during the 1960s, his lifelong sobriquet: "Bob Fields" (an
anglicized word-to-word rendering of his actual name). During the late 1960s and 1970s, he disagreed with the increasing amount of state intervention in the economy included in the process of authoritarian modernization achieved by later military administrations and remained at the sidelines, working mostly as an adviser in private enterprise. In 1975, he was appointed Brazilian ambassador to the United Kingdom, remaining in this office for nearly seven years. Two years later, he won the election for an eight-year term as
senator for his native state of
Mato Grosso. He died of
heart attack on 9 October 2001 at his apartment in
Rio de Janeiro. His papers reside at the
Universidade Positivo. He was married. From his marriage resulted two sons and one daughter. == Works ==