Sáenz Peña, Roque

Sáenz Peña, Roque rōˈkā säˈāns pāˈnyä [key], 1851–1914, Argentine statesman, president of the republic (1910–14); son of an earlier president (1892–95), Luis Sáenz Peña. He had an active career as soldier, legislator, diplomat, and cabinet official before he was inaugurated president (Oct., 1910) for a six-year term. His administration was significant for electoral reform. Because of these measures a peaceful revolution occurred when, in the presidential election of 1916, the landowning oligarchy was replaced by a new group, the Radicals, headed by Hipólito Irigoyen. Sáenz Peña, however, did not live to see the full results of his reform.

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