Chavez is a career military man who served over a 17-year period whose decorated service culminated in the rank of lieutenant colonel. He also taught at his alma mater, the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences. Over this period, he incorporated theories of Marx and Lenin with his admiration of revolutionary hero Simon Bolivar. In 1992, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against President Carlos Andrés Pérez, for which he served two years in prison. He was pardoned by President Rafael Caldera in 1994, dove headlong into politics, and won the presidency in 1998 with 56 percent of the vote.