Jesús González Ortega (1822-1881), a prominent politician and general in mid-19th century Mexico, was born on the Hacienda de San Mateo, near Teúl, Zacatecas. He studied at the seminary in Guadalajara, Jalisco in his youth, but was unable to finish his schooling due to financial difficulties. González Ortega also studied law while serving as secretary to the justice of the peace in the village of San Juan Bautista de Teúl in Zacatecas (ca. 1850). At approximately this time he married Mercedes Mercado, a woman from Teúl. They had at least one child, a son named Lauro González Ortega.

As a supporter of the Liberals, González Ortega came to play a major role in the conflict with the Conservatives, the party favored by the the church, the army and larger landholders. When the Conservatives, led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, seized power in 1853, González Ortega organized protests in Zacatecas and became a prominent legislator in the state after Santa Anna's ouster in 1855. he took over the governorship of Zacatecas during the Reform War (1857-1860) between the Liberals and Conservatives. After mounting a successful defense of the state against Conservative forces in 1858-1859 he became a senior Liberal military strategist, taking Mexico City on Christmas Day 1860 and ending the war.

González Ortega was elected president of the Supreme Court in the Liberal government of President Benito Juárez in 1861, becoming the de facto vice-president of Mexico. He won further fame during the Second French Intervention in Mexico (1861-1867), mounting a heroic but ultimately unsuccessful defense against the invaders at the siege of Puebla in 1863. Further defeats in 1864 decimated González Ortega's army. By this time he was also in conflict with Juárez, who used the war to exercise powers beyond those granted to the president by the Mexican constitution. These conditions forced González Ortega to leave Mexico in 1865. He travelled to the United States in January on a temporary leave from his duties granted by Juárez. He moved around the U.S. in 1865 and 1866, attempting to purchase weapons, raise funds and recruit men for the Mexican army, but soon fell victim to political intrigue.

Seeking to remain in power without calling an election after his term expired in December 1865, Juárez sought to remove González Ortega, who was designated to succeed him by the Mexican constitution if no elections were held. On 8 November 1865 Juárez decreed that González Ortega was in dereliction of his duties by leaving Mexico and ordered his arrest. González Ortega, in response, declared himself president of the country, but overestimated the degree of support he enjoyed in Mexico. The United States, favoring Juárez, detained González Ortega when he attempted to return to Mexico on 3 November 1866. González Ortega was not allowed to return until January 1867, when he was imprisoned by Juárez supporters and held until August 1868. Although González Ortega still had allies in Mexico and was elected to the Mexican Congress during his imprisonment, his national prominence faded. He retired to private life after his release and died at Saltillo, Coahuila state in 1881.