Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine lieutenant general and politician, later the President of Argentina.
Background
Juan Perón was born on October 8, 1895 in Lobos, Argentina, the son of Juana Sosa Toledo and Mario Tomás Perón. There is no evidence that his parents were married at the time of his birth. In 1899 his father left the family to search for better economic opportunities in Patagonia. Once settled on a ranch near Rio Gallegos, the family was reunited.
Education
There were a lack of schools in southern Patagonia, so in 1904 Perón's parents sent him and his brother to elementary school in Buenos Aires, the capital city. Far from his family and home, Perón learned to live by his wits. By the age of 15, Perón participated in sports while barely making passing grades in academics. It was at this age that he decided against a university education in medicine and passed the entrance exam for the National Military College, the Argentine military academy.
Perón entered the army upon graduation in 1913 as a second lieutenant in the infantry, but his career was not outstanding. He was a champion fencer, had a good reputation as an instructor in various military schools, and had experience abroad as military attaché in Chile.
He was promoted to the more respected rank of lieutenant in 1915, but it was not until 1919 that he showed signs as a leader and teacher. Perón was promoted to captain in 1924 and in 1926 was assigned to the Escuela de Guerra (Superior War College) where he trained intensely for three years.
Argentina suffered a coup in September of 1930 brought on by the spreading world depression. Perón was a minor participant in the coup, but it taught him a valuable lesson. He felt that the massive mobilization of civilians in favor of the coup had helped the military victory. This was a lesson he would use to his advantage in the future. In 1931 Perón was assigned to teach at the Superior War College where he spent five years teaching, writing several books, and developing talents critical to his later political career.
Juan was sent to Italy for 22 months, where he witnessed both the fascism of Benito Mussolini and the Nazism of Adolph Hitler. Perón returned to Buenos Aires and was assigned to mountain troops in the province of Mendoza. In 1942 he was promoted to the rank of a full colonel. Perón found the Argentine military to be divided and ill at ease.
His career took an upswing after the military coup d'etat of June 4, 1943. The coup, which put General Pedro Pablo Ramirez in the presidency, was highly unpopular among the civilian population. As a result, Perón and other younger officers realized that the soldiers had to rally civilian support if they were to remain in power. After some hesitation, they turned to the organized labor movement for such support. Perón became secretary of labor and between 1943 and 1945 built up a wide constituency among the country's urban and rural working classes. He did so by supporting strongly those unions which would cooperate with him and by enacting by decree a large body of labor and social legislation. He was overthrown by rival military men on October 17, 1945, but was not concerned.
He was returned to power largely by the influence of his labor supporters. Thereafter, he became a presidential candidate in the elections of February 1946, which he won by a 54 percent majority. Perón remained president for more than nine years. During this time he continued to picture himself as the paladin of the workers and of the country's lower classes in general, while bringing the labor movement under iron government control.
In September 1955 Perón was overthrown by a military-civilian uprising. He went into exile, first in Paraguay and subsequently Venezuela, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, finally settling in Spain. He still maintained direct contact with his supporters, who represented about 25 percent of the electorate and continued to dominate the labor movement. The new government tried to make the citizens forget Juan Perón. But giving in to public pressure, Perónists were gradually tolerated and eventually allowed to run for elected office. In the election of 1973, labor, youth, and those disenchanted with military rule voted for the Perónist ticket. That ticket won a victory, but the Perónist president, Hector Cámpora, proved to be a disaster. He resigned later that year, setting the stage for the return to power of Perón.
A new election was held in September of 1973 and Perón won, but he was plagued by age, illness, and fatigue. The country drifted as inflation increased and the economy went out of control. Perón died of a heart attack on July 1, 1974, passing control of the nation to his vice president and third wife, the politically inexperienced Maria Estela ("Isabel") Martinez de Perón.
Juan was said to be religious and a Roman catholic, but when in 1954 Catholic Church stopped to support him, Perón sought to reduce the power of the Church in the country and denied his previous belief. However, he was admitted back into the Catholic Church in 1963.
Politics
Initialy, he supported Labour (1945–1947), later he became Justicialist (1947–1974, which he pictured as being something between capitalism and communism).
Perón took steps toward setting up a cooperative state. He sought to force virtually all interest groups into government-dominated organizations of workers, entrepreneurs, professionals, and students.
Personality
Juan was hard working and charismatic.
Connections
In 1929 Perón married Aurelia Tizón. She died in 1938 from uterine cancer and Perón was extremely distraught. It was in the Ramirez administration that Perón met Eva Duarte in January of 1944. It was as secretary of labor that she first gained his attention. She soon became his mistress, but Perón did not keep the 24-year-old hidden away. Instead he treated her as if she were his wife. The relationship produced volumes of gossip, but Perón did not seem to mind. As a result of supporting the unions, the working classes, and his affair with Eva, Perón became very popular. When he was overthrown by rival military men on October 17, 1945, he was not concerned and married Eva four days later. The death of Eva from cancer in 1952 dealt a crushing blow to Perón. She was accorded cult status. There were even attempts to have her canonized as "Santa Evita. " He married María Estela Martínez (known as "Isabel") in 1961.