Spiritual Leader of the Nation was an honorary position created by the Argentine Congress in the early 1950s and only ever held by Eva Perón, wife of Juan Domingo Perón. Eva Perón was elected Spiritual Leader/Chief of the Nation on May 7, 1952 and died on July 26 of that year. The title of Spiritual Chief or Leader of the Nation would never again be bestowed on any Argentine, preserved in history as a special position for Eva.
Power of Evita
The First Lady, Eva Perón was the wife, top adviser, and political partner of President of the Argentine NationJuan Perón. Her power was such that she was referred to as "La Presidenta", Spanish for "The President" and in the Casa Rosadamuseum, where almost every president's statue stands alone, there is a statue of her with her husband. It is widely speculated by historians that she would have become the first female President in Argentina had it not been for her early death.
''De facto'' and ''de jure'' offices and titles
Evita held many de facto posts in government. She never held a cabinet position, but she was practically the head of many ministries, and Secretary of Labour and Minister for Education. She was also the de facto head of the General Confederation of Labour. She was de jure the president of the large and powerful state-controlled institute of social welfare, which she founded and ran, the Eva Perón Foundation, as well as the official president of the Female Peronist Party. The Justicialist Party also recognized Eva as its national head, a position she shared equally with Juan. Over the years, she had been given many unofficial titles in addition to "La Presidenta", such as the Lady of Hope, First Samaritan, Lady of the Descamisados, the Rainbow of Argentina, and Santa Evita. As the wife of the President, Eva, of course, held the title of First Lady.
In 1951 the Peronist Party nominated Evita to run for the office of Vice President and Senate President of the Argentine Nation, but many issues such as opposition from the Argentine military, Perón's personal fear of political opposition to his wife, and especially her illness contributed to Eva withdrawing her candidacy. Without her uterine cancer, it seems likely she would have fought the opposing forces, whose political powers were considerably weaker than hers, but by the 17 October, her condition would so deteriorate that she would not be able to stand without assistance from Perón. She would never hold national elective political office. Denied the Vice Presidency and swiftly heading towards the end of her life, the nation went into a frenzy as Congress hurried to force every honor that they could onto the First Lady. Vigils were constantly held; 508 hospitals were ordered by the Minister of Health to hold prayers for her recovery; her autobiography, La Razon de mi Vida, was ordered to be used as a textbook in all schools, and members of Congress constantly held tributes for their ailing leader. On May 7, 1952, she was elected Spiritual Leader/Chief of the Nation by the Peronista majority.
On June 4 Juan Perón was re-inaugurated for a second term as President. That day, had it not been for the illness that had reduced her to a mere and forced her to wear a plaster and wire frame to be able to stand, Eva would likely have been inaugurated as Latin America's first woman Vice President. Instead, she attended in her role as Argentina's Spiritual Chief and took the ceremonial place of the Vice President, occupying his official seat next to the President and taking on his ceremonial duties. The Peróns' Vice President, Juan Hortensio Quijano, was in worse health than Evita by the time that she begged him to join the ticket after her withdrawal, and he accepted only reluctantly. He died in early April 1952 and was not replaced by anyone by inauguration time and so Evita took his place. The inauguration was Eva's last public appearance. After she returned home, she would not leave the Casa Rosada alive again. She died on July 26 of that year, triggering tremendous mourning. The title of Spiritual Chief or Leader of the Nation has never again been given to any Argentine.
