Arturo Rawson (June 4, 1885 – October 8, 1952) was the provisional President of Argentina from June 4, 1943, to June 7, 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 in 1885 to a San Juan family of American origin. Through his grandfather Juan de Dios Rawson, he was related to Guillermo Rawson. Rawson attended Argentina’s Military College, which he graduated from in 1905 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, 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 on a military jeep. His time as president was so brief that he never actually made the Oath of office. 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). In 1945, Rawson was arrested and brought before a military tribunal 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, 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 in Buenos Aires in 1952. He is buried at La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.