Businessman politician president
Alessandri was born on May 19, 1896 in Santiago, Chile, the son of Arturo Alessandri, who was president from 1920 to 1925 and again from 1932 to 1938. After the fall of the parliamentary republic, he lived in European exile with his parents from 1924 to 1925.
Alessandri graduated from the University of Chile in Santiago in 1919 with a degree in civil engineering and at first taught engineering.
A successful businessman, Alessandri held the directorship of the major paper factory in Chile and was vice president of the Bank of South America. His introduction to politics, aside from a brief career as a congressman in 1925, came when he was named minister of finance (1948-1950) during the presidency of Gabriel González Videla. Alessandri balanced the nation's budget and actually secured a surplus, an unusual achievement in inflation-ridden Chile. In 1956 he was elected senator from Santiago. A bachelor, he was said to be a father figure for the Chileans. Alessandri possessed a well-known name, was not closely connected officially with the traditional political parties, and was an outspoken critic of the increasingly unpopular Ibáñez administration (1952-1958). Thus, he was nominated for the presidency in 1958 by a coalition of independent and conservative groups. Alessandri promised to give the nation an efficient administration manned not with politicians but with technical experts. His program appealed to the wealthy and middle classes, and in one of the closest elections in Chilean history, Alessandri won over Salvador Allende, the Socialist-Communist nominee. Alessandri kept his campaign promises and attempted to deal with Chile's runaway inflation by instituting a strict austerity program. Between 1958 and 1960 he had some success in stemming the rise in the cost of living and in stabilizing the currency. However, his efforts at economy were halted when devastating earthquakes rocked southern Chile in May 1960. Huge outlays of money to rebuild the territory were required. Alessandri's essentially rightist orientation and his reluctance to attack the pressing problems of agrarian reform, unemployment, and housing resulted in a loss of popularity for the conservative parties. In the presidential election of 1964, Eduardo Frei, a Christian Democrat, was victorious, and conservative domination of Chile was shattered. Alessandri's political fortunes subsequently took a turn for the better, and in 1970 he was supported by a revitalized conservative coalition for the presidency. Beaten in the election by Socialist Salvador Allende, Alessandri endorsed the winner in the subsequent run-off election in Congress which had become necessary because of Allende's narrow margin of victory in the general elections. Alessandri then retired but maintained his independent political stance. After this, he withdrew into private life, living rather peacefully in his apartment in the center of Santiago. He continued to be chairman of the board of a paper factory until his death in Santiago in 1986. He did not live to see end of the junta and the return of Chile to democracy.
Alessandri focused on economic issues, particularly on controlling inflation and balancing the state budget, and he liberalised Chile's tariff régime.
Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Member of the Senate of Chile
Alessandri earned a reputation for being aloof and austere but able.
Alessandri spent his whole life as a bachelor.
He was a Chilean political figure and reformer, who served thrice as the President of Chile, first between 1920 and 1924, then for part of 1925, and finally from 1932 until 1938.
He was a renowned Chilean medical educator.
He was a Chilean political figure, candidate of the centre-right in Chile's 1946 presidential election.
He is a Chilean lawyer and politician.
