calderón's inauguration ceremony on 1 december at the congress of the union was tense and lasted less than five minutes, as he barely managed to recite the oath of office while the prd legislators shouted in protest against the alleged electoral fraud and attempted to impede his inauguration, and afterward he quickly left the building for security reasons as some of the legislators engaged in violent brawls. besides the claims of fraud, calderón took office with the smallest percentage of votes for a winning presidential candidate in mexican history (35.8%), which meant that his administration would face severe legitimacy problems. only a month after taking office, calderón declared war on the drug cartels and organized crime, thus beginning the mexican drug war. this was considered by many as an immediate strategy to gain popular legitimacy and acceptation for the new president after the convoluted elections.