Gómez was born into a prominent family of Andean landowners who lived in the La Mulera. He was the firstborn son of Pedro Cornelio Gomez and Hermenegilda Chacon Alarcon. In 1899, he joined the private army of Cipriano Castro, with whom he had been friends since Castro’s exile in Colombia. This army swept down on Caracas in 1899 and seized control of the country. He became Castro’s vice president and, in 1902, head of the military, responsible for suppressing several major revolts against the government in the battle of Ciudad Bolivar on 21 July 1903. Gómez seized power from Castro on 19 December 1908, while Castro was in Europe for medical treatment.

On 19 April 1914, Gómez ostensibly stepped down from office in favor of provisional president Victorino Márquez, though he continued to rule the country from his home in Maracay. He returned to office in 1922, ruling until 22 April 1929. Though he was re-elected to a new term of office by the Congress, he declined to return to the capital, and Juan Bautista Pérez assumed the presidency, though Gómez remained the final authority in the country. On 13 June 1931, Congress forced Pérez to resign, and elected Gómez president again. This time, he resumed office, ruling the country until his death.

As president, Gómez managed to deflate Venezuela’s staggering debt by granting concessions to foreign oil companies after the discovery of petroleum in Lake Maracaibo in 1918. This, in turn, won him the support of the United States and Europe and economic stability. Though he used the money to launch an extensive public works program, he also received generous kickbacks, increasing his personal fortune enormously. Because of his contributions to the country’s development, the Congress bestowed the title of El Benemérito (“the Meritorious One”) on him. In contrast, his opponents, who disdained his brutal tactics at home, referred to him as El Bagre (“the Catfish”), a snide reference to his bushy mustache and outward appearance. They also called him “the Tyrant of the Andes” – a reference to his roots in the mountain state of Táchira.

The Generation of 1928 was a group of students who led protests in 1928 against Gómez in the capital city of Caracas. Members included Rómulo Betancourt, Jóvito Villalba, Joaquin Gabaldon Marquez, Juan Oropeza, Raúl Leoni, Andrés Eloy Blanco, Miguel Otero Silva, Pedro Sotillo, Isaac J Pardo, Juan Bautista Fuenmayor, Germán Suárez Flamerich, and Gustavo Machado.

Juan Vicente Gómez International Airport was named for him in 1993.