Juan Peron was elected president of Argentina in 1946, and re-elected in 1951. His phenominal popularity with the poor and social reform programs got him elected, but the popularity of his wife, Eva Peron, kept him in office. Their marriage was a charismatic and formidable partnership and Eva, a former actress, became increasingly influential. She secured the vote for women, directed private and government funds to social welfare, and advanced the cause of workers. However, the army never accepted her. After her death from cancer in 1952 at the age of thirty-three, her husband lost direction and Peron was overthrown by a military coup in 1955. In 1973 he returned for a third term in office but died in 1974.
