Jaime Gerardo Roberto Marcelino María Ortiz Lizardi (24 September 1886 – 15 July 1942) was the 19th President of Argentina from 20 February 1938 to 27 June 1942.
Ortiz is a little remembered president. He became president in 1938 following a presidential election that has been described as being among the most fraudulent in Argentine history.[1] His main management objective was to end fraud. The attempt to normalize the institutions confronted him with his vice president, Ramón Castillo, leader of the conservative sectors of the government coalition. The president and vice president belonged to different political groupings. Ortiz was a radical antipersonnel and Castillo, a conservative in the National Democratic Party. Both were part of the formula of Concordancia, a coalition that had ruled since 1932.[2]
In the presidential elections of 1937, he was the official government candidate and won, though the opposition accused him of participating in fraud, as irregularities were widespread.[5] Ortiz never denied these charges, but once he took office, he tried to make Argentine politics more open and democratic.[6] Soon after becoming president, Ortiz became seriously ill with diabetes and on 3 July 1940, he delegated his powers to Vice President Ramón Castillo.[7][6] He favored the Allies during World War II,[8] but because of opposition within the army, he did not break relations with the Axis powers.[6] He resigned from the presidency on 24 July 1942, three weeks before dying of bronchial pneumonia at age 55.[9][3]
^ abcDomingo Cavallo; Sonia Cavallo Runde (3 February 2017). "From the Fall of Yrigoyen to the Rise of Perón". Argentina's Economic Reforms of the 1990s in Contemporary and Historical Perspective (Illustrated ed.). Routledge. p. 1922. ISBN978-1317364665. Retrieved 2 March 2022.