Argentine Statesman. He served as the President of Argentina from July 8, 1989 to December 10, 1999. He was influenced early in his life after meeting President Juan Peron and his wife Eva in 1951 and became a Peronist. He then studied law at the National University of Cordoba and graduated in 1955. He was briefly incarcerated after Juan Peron was ousted in 1955 and went on to become prominent in the pro-Peron Justicialist Party. In 1973, he was elected governor of La Rioja province and served in this position until he was deposed after the military takeover of the country in 1976. He was detained by the military and remained in that situation until being released by the military in the early 1980s. In 1983, he ran for his old position of governor of La Rioja province and won the election. He served in this position until 1989 when he ran for the presidency of Argentina and was successful in the general election. He went on to serve as president until stepping down in 1999. His presidency was marked by his successful efforts to bring down inflation and bringing back Argentina to the world scene after its disastrous Falkland Islands War of 1982. An economic crisis occurred during the latter part of his second term and helped opposition parties defeat his party in both the 1997 legislative and 1999 general election. After he left office, several key figures of his administration were arrested and found guilty of several criminal and corruption charges including illegal arms trafficking, embezzlement of public funds, extortion, and bribery. In 2003, he chose to run for president again, but later pulled out in favor of Nestor Kirchner. He was elected a senator from La Rioja in 2005 and continued to serve in this position until his passing.