Roque Sáenz Peña

Sáenz Peña, Roque (rō'kā sä'āns pā'nyä), 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.