Arturo Frondizi (1908-1995) was a leader of the Argentine Radical party and the first legally elected Argentine president after the fall of Peron. He sought to restore constitutional government and to promote national economic development.

Arturo Frondizi, one of 14 children of Italian immigrant parents, was born on October 28, 1908, in Paso de los Libres in the northeastern province of Corrientes. His father was a road and bridge contractor who had moved his family and business to Buenos Aires. Arturo graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a degree in law.

While a student, Frondizi became interested in the writings of Marx, but stopped short of becoming a Communist or Socialist, joining instead the Radical Civic Union (UCR) or Radical party of President Hipólito Irigoyen shortly before his ouster in a military coup in September 1930. Refusing to receive a diploma of honor from the leader of the...