Perón, Juan (Domingo)

Juan Perón, 1954.

(credit: Courtesy of the OAS (Columbus Memorial Library))

(born Oct. 8, 1895, Buenos Aires province, Arg.—died July 1, 1974, Buenos Aires) President of Argentina (1946–55, 1973–74). After attending military school, he served in the 1930s in Italy, where he observed the successes of the Fascists. In 1943 he helped overthrow Argentina's ineffective civilian government. As secretary of labour and social welfare, he built a loyal following among industrial workers, who helped elect him president in 1946. Perón's political views drew on both the far left and the far right: while he showered workers with much-needed benefits, he restricted civil liberties severely. The charisma of his second wife, Eva Perón, greatly increased the regime's standing with the populace. He was reelected in 1951, but a disastrous economic decline and increasing disaffection among many elements of Argentine society led to his overthrow in 1955 by democratically inspired military officers. He lived in exile in Spain for two decades but continued to influence Argentine affairs. When the Peronist party was made legal, he was reelected president in absentia; he died less than a year after returning to Argentina and assuming the presidency. See also Isabel Perón.