Why Perón Came to Power: A Book Review of Barager's Essay Collection

Overview of the Edited Collection

Joseph R. Barager, editor of Why Perón Came to Power (Alfred A. Knopf, 1968), opens the volume with a 38-page introduction before giving way to 21 individual contributors — each of whom offers a short essay on a pivotal period or event leading up to and into the Perónist era. Each of the 21 essayists brings a distinct area of expertise and, accordingly, a unique point of view. Barager's overriding thesis is clear from the outset: the book will argue that Juan Domingo Perón was not responsible for "all the ills and misfortunes" that afflicted Argentina following World War II — notwithstanding the claims of some Latin American journalistic observers and the anger of many hostile Argentineans. Nor, the editor asserts, was Perón the uncomplicated "champion" of the lower class (the descamisados — "shirtless ones"), as approximately one-third of the Argentine electorate maintained. Barager's purpose, then, is to trace through 21 individual narratives the key political and social events in Argentine history leading up to and including Perón's ascension — events which, in Barager's view, paved the way for a man like Perón to come to power, rule with a dictator's hand, be imprisoned, and ultimately rise from his cell to rule again.

Barager's engagement with the subject grew out of personal scholarly interest. He received a Doherty Foundation Fellowship to study the Perón phenomenon and was also awarded a Penfield Traveling Scholarship, which funded an extended research stay in Argentina from 1949 to 1950. His style is straightforward and matter-of-fact; he does not indulge in a great deal of opinion but instead attempts to cover the voluminous material in an objective, non-opinionated manner. The book's historical scope spans from the early 1800s through part of the 1960s.

Key Essays and Contributors

Among the most notable contributions is an essay by Domingo F. Sarmiento, drawn from his 52-volume Obras completas, titled "Life in the Argentine Republic: Civilization or Barbarism." Sarmiento — a former schoolteacher and former president of Argentina — wrote the piece while in exile in Cuba in 1845. His analysis (pp. 43–53) is weighted by personal antipathy toward Spain, but it is leavened with anecdotal digressions that reward serious historical study.

Another significant contributor is Robert J. Alexander (pp. 180–198), an economics professor at Rutgers University, who helps the reader understand the nature of Perón's political strategy when he came to power in the revolution of 1943. Initially serving as Director of the Department of Labor, Perón broke from the pattern of earlier dictatorial administrations by embracing rather than alienating labor unions and workers. "By persuasion and force," Alexander writes (p. 186), "he brought the labor movement almost completely under his control…[and] he tied those organizations to his own destiny." By forging this alliance with labor — and by standing up for workers against their employers — Perón cultivated a ready-made political constituency that helped sustain him in power.

On pages 203–205, Eva Perón — "Evita" — writes about the eight days in 1945 during which her husband was imprisoned, prior to his return to power. She describes going door-to-door "looking for friends who could still do something for him," visiting both wealthy and poor neighborhoods. She encountered "cold and calculating hearts" in affluent areas, while the poor opened their doors "more generously and with more cordiality." The editor uses this brief, first-person account — from a figure who was also the subject of a major Hollywood film and considerable international intrigue — to add an emotional counterpoint to the otherwise scholarly and at times prosaic tenor of the surrounding essays.

Reference

Barager, Joseph R. Why Perón Came to Power: The Background to Peronism in Argentina. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968.