President of Argentina Has Been

¶ … President of Argentina has been Nestor Kirchner and the Vice President has been Daniel Scioli. In Argentina the chief of state and the head of the government are both the same person; ie. The president. One of the advantages realized by becoming president is that the cabinet is appointed by that person. In the last Argentina presidential election held on April 27, 2003 there was a virtual dead heat amongst the two main contenders which led to a runoff election. Those two contenders were Nestor Kirchner (who received 22%) and a gentleman named Carlos Saul Menem who received 24.3% of the total vote. A runoff was supposed to be held May 25, 2003.

"The subsequent runoff election slated for 25 May 2003 was awarded to Kirchner by default after Menem withdrew his candidacy on the eve of the election" (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ar.html#Govt).

Since taking office Kirchner has had to implement a policy that would assist the country in recovering from a very real recession during 2001-2002. "Poverty and unemployment rates soared during Argentina's 2001-2002 economic crisis but have eased as the economy recovered to grow nine percent on average over the last three years" (Reuters 2006). Kirchner's policies have helped the country to recover from a severe economic crisis since he has taken office, but the unemployment rate is still very high. At the height of the crisis the unemployment rate was as high as 21.5% and the number of impoverished Argentines was 57.5%. "Argentina's unemployment rate fell to 10.4% in the second quarter from 12.1% in the same period last year" (Reuters 2006).

Other Argentine presidents have also had to cope with severe economies and high unemployment as well as social disorder. One of those presidents was Juan Domingo Peron. This individual was elected to three different terms as president of Argentina. His first term was 1946-1952, after which he was immediately re-elected and served from 1952 through 1955 when he was overthrown in a military coup. "On September 16, 1955 a facist-Catholic group of both the Army and Navy made a definitive coup d'etat, taking power under the name of "Revolucion Libertadora" (Juan 2006). His third term was short-lived as well. He was voted into office in October 1973 and died July 1, 1974.

Peron was known for being very pro-union and establishing a labor party that still has major influence in Argentina. Many of Argentine's political parties have included as part of their respective platforms "Peronisms" and Peron himself touted the fact that their was a third way to govern a people. Instead of capitalism or communism, he promoted laborism.

Peron was also married to Eva Duarte. "On October 21, 1945 Peron married Eva Duarte (1919-1952), who became hugely popular. Known as Evita, she helped her husband develop support with labor and women's groups. She died of cancer in 1952 at the age of thirty-three" (Juan 2006).

Although she became immensely popular with the working class of Argentina and with woman there as well, she could be as ruthless and vengeful as her husband Juan. "Eva was very vindictive and used her new position as first lady to have all those who snubbed her blacklisted.... 'Time' ran an article stating that Eva was an illegitimate child, it was banned in Argentina for four months.

Eva and Juan shut down any newspapers that opposed them and ruled Argentina with an iron hand" (Eva 2003).

Evita was an excellent example of being a very popular politician, accomplishing many things that helped her people, while at the same time she caused a lot of pain and anguish to those who crossed her, or disagreed with her opinions. She wielded her power for good and bad.

There have been many such presidents and vice presidents that have done the same in Argentina and since the 1890's the country has seen turmoil, dictatorships, military rule and conversely growth and economic viability that has astounded the region.

Early on in Argentina's history many of the individuals that ran the government turned to the printing press when they needed any money for expenditures (real or imagined). This caused there to be an inordinate amount of pesos in the circulation and added to the country's huge debt. Many of the presidents and dictators since the early 1900's have continued to use that same power in order to finance their visions for Argentina. The country is still saddled with huge debt and financial mismanagement, but under their current leadership, at least some fiscal responsibility is being enforced.