Arturo Rawson (June 4, 1885 – October 8, 1952) was an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
politician, military officer, and the provisional
President of the Republic from June 4, 1943, to June 6, 1943.
His coup started a series which culminated in the accession to power of the
Labor Party just 3 years later.
Biography
Rawson was born in
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...
in 1884 to a
San Juan family of
American origin. Through his grandfather
Juan de Dios Rawson, he was related to
Guillermo Rawson
Guillermo Rawson (24 June 1821 – 20 January 1890) was a medical doctor and politician in nineteenth-century Argentina. In 1862, when he was the Interior Minister of Argentina, he met Captain Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones, who were on ...
. Rawson attended
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
’s Military College, which he graduated from in 1905
and subsequently taught at for a time. Rawson rose through the ranks of the
Argentine Army
The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...
and was eventually promoted to
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
. By 1943, Rawson was the Commanding Officer of
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...
at Campo de Mayo. On June 3, 1943, Rawson was contacted by members of the GOU (
United Officers' Group), a group of military officers planning to overthrow Argentina's civilian government. The GOU, lacking the sufficient number of troops needed to successfully implement a
coup, knew Rawson could provide the soldiers they required. Rawson, who had been scheming to overthrow the government even before he was contacted by the GOU, agreed to their plan. On June 4, Rawson and 10,000 troops under his command entered
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...
and overthrew the government of
Ramón Castillo
Ramón Antonio Castillo Barrionuevo (November 20, 1873 – October 12, 1944) was a conservative Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina from June 27, 1942 to June 4, 1943. He was a leading figure in the period known as t ...
. This ended the historical period known as the
Infamous Decade
The Infamous Decade () was a period in Argentinian history that began with the 1930 coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen. This decade was marked on one hand by significant rural exodus, with many small rural landowners ruined b ...
and started the
Revolution of '43
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
.
Rawson promptly declared himself
president of Argentina
The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under the national cons ...
the same day, beating
Pedro Pablo Ramírez
Pedro Pablo Ramirez Menchaca (30 January 1884 – 12 May 1962) was the fascist-leaning President of Argentina from 7 June 1943, to 24 February 1944. He was the founder and leader of ''Guardia Nacional'', Argentina's fascist militia.
Life an ...
to do so.
[Mendelevich, p. 144] However, his choices for his
cabinet alienated the GOU leadership, who forced him to resign on June 7. Rawson, as Castillo did, supported the
Allies of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
, but the bulk of the military that organized the coup wanted Argentina to stay neutral in the conflict, considering that joining the war would prove destructive for the country. Colonel Elbio Anaya appeared at his office and told him that he was ruling because of a misunderstanding, as the president was Ramírez. Rawson resigned, and rejected the military escort, leaving the
Casa Rosada
The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de O ...
on a military jeep. His time as president was so brief that he never actually made the
Oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
. Even so, he did not take power as an
interim president, but expecting to rule for a long time. Thus, Rawson has had the second shortest mandate of any Argentine president, and the shortest mandate of any Argentine non-acting president, holding the office for just three days (the first being
Federico Pinedo with 12 hours).
After resigning as president, Rawson was appointed
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, a post he would hold until 1944.
He congratulated Ramírez when he broke relations with Germany and Japan.
[Mendelevich, p. 146] In 1945, Rawson was arrested and brought before a
military tribunal
Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodi ...
for opposing the government of President
Edelmiro Farrell, but he was quickly released. In September 1951, Rawson supported General
José Benjamín Menéndez’s failed attempt to overthrow the government of
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected ...
, for which Rawson was temporarily imprisoned. He wrote the book ''Argentina y Bolivia en la epopeya de la emancipación'' (literally "Argentina and Bolivia in the Liberation epic"). Rawson died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...
in Buenos Aires in 1952. He is buried at
La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...
in Buenos Aires.
See also
Bibliography
*
Argentines of American descent
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawson, Arturo
1885 births
1952 deaths
People from Santiago del Estero
Argentine generals
Presidents of Argentina
Argentine people of American descent
Leaders who took power by coup
Leaders ousted by a coup
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
Ambassadors of Argentina to Brazil