Eduardo Duhalde, an Argentine politician and lawyer, is best known for his presidency of Argentina from 2002 to 2003. Born in Lomas de Zamora, Duhalde pursued a law degree at the University of Buenos Aires after completing his school education. While initially involved in academia as a law professor, his political aspirations led him to join the Justicialist Party and assume leadership of the local branch. Duhalde’s political career began as the mayor of Lomas de Zamora in 1973, but he was later expelled during the dictatorship. Following the dictatorship’s end, he returned to politics, serving in the senate and eventually reclaiming his position as mayor. Duhalde went on to become the vice president of Argentina and later the Governor of Buenos Aires. In 2002, he assumed the role of interim President of Argentina, serving for approximately 16 months.
Quick Facts
- Also Known As: Eduardo Alberto Duhalde
- Age: 82 Years, 82 Year Old Males
- Family:
- Spouse/Ex-: Hilda de Duhalde
- Father: Tomás Duhalde Gorostegui
- Mother: María Ester Maldonado Aguirre
- Children: Agustina Duhalde González, Analía Duhalde González, Juliana Duhalde González, María Eva Duhalde González, Tomás Duhalde González
- Presidents
- Political Leaders
Childhood & Early Life
Eduardo Duhalde was born on 5 October 1941 in Lomas de Zamora, in the Greater Buenos Aires, to Don Tomas Gorostegui Duhalde and María Esther Maldonado. Very little information is available regarding his early life or his school level education. He studied law at the University of Buenos Aires and graduated with a degree in the year 1970.
Career
After completing his education, he started working at the National University of Lomas de Zamora in the capacity of a professor in law. Around the same time, he also became a member of the Justicialist Party and became the head of the local branch located in Lomas de Zamora.
After the elections in 1973, Eduardo Duhalde was elected as the Mayor of Lomas de Zamora. However, his time as the mayor of the city proved to be short-lived as following a military coup in 1976, he was removed from his post. After the coup, he started a real estate business.
The dictatorship in Argentina ended in 1983 and Duhalde returned to politics as soon as it was declared. In the elections that followed in the same year, he was elected to the parliament. Subsequently, he was elected as the mayor of Lomas de Zamora and in 1987 he became a national deputy.
He formed a political alliance with Carlos Menem and in 1989, when Menem ran for the presidency, Eduardo was named as the vice presidential candidate. Their alliance was successful and Menem became the president, while he ended up becoming the vice president. He stayed on in the post for over two years.
During his time as the vice president of Argentina, the then president and his political ally Carlos Menem offered him the chance to run for the office of governor of Buenos Aires. He assumed the office of governor on 10 December 1991 and occupied the office till 10 December 1999.
In 1999, he contested the presidential elections but lost to Fernando de la Rua. In December 2001, following an economic crisis and riots, Fernando de la Rua was forced to resign. On 2 January 2002, the Legislative Assembly in Argentina appointed Dulhade as the President of Argentina. When he assumed the presidency, the country was in economic turmoil and during his stint that ran for just over 16 months, he tried to control the situation. He did away with the fixed rate for the peso against the US Dollar, which helped in substitution of imports. The economic situation in the country was somewhat resurrected during his presidency.
On May 25, 2003, Dulhade was succeeded by Nestor Kirchner. In 2009, Dulhade decided to run again for the presidency and got the backing of the conservative members of the Peronists. In the 2011 presidential elections, he fought on a Union Popular ticket but lost to Cristina Kirchner.
Major Works
During his 16-month stint as the President of Argentina, he brought about important policy measures that helped in stabilizing the Argentine economy in the long run.
Personal Life & Legacy
He is married to Hilda Beatriz Gonzalez and the couple has five children.