Brigadier General Roberto Marcelo Levingston | |
---|---|
42nd President of Argentina | |
In office 18 June 1970 – 21 March 1971 | |
Vice President | Vacant |
Preceded by | Juan Carlos Onganía |
Succeeded by | Alejandro Agustín Lanusse |
Personal details | |
Born | San Luis, Argentina | 10 January 1920
Died | 17 June 2015 Buenos Aires, Argentina | (aged 95)
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | Betty Nelly Andrés |
Children | 3 |
Profession | Military |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Argentina |
Branch/service | Argentine Army |
Years of service | 1938–1971 |
Rank | Brigadier general |
Commands | Argentine Army |
Battles/wars | Argentine Revolution |
Roberto Marcelo Levingston Laborda (10 January 1920 [1] [2] [3] – 17 June 2015) was an Argentine Army general who was the 42nd President of Argentina from 1970 to 1971. [4] [5]
Levingston was born in San Luis Province, and graduated from the Colegio Militar de la Nación in 1941. [6]
On 18 December 1943, Levingston married Betty Nelly Andrés (born 4 May 1926) [7] and had two sons and one daughter, Roberto, Maria and Alberto.
Levingston's military expertise included intelligence and counterinsurgency, and he took the presidency of Argentina on 18 June 1970, in a military coup that deposed Juan Carlos Onganía over his ineffective response to the Montoneros and other guerillas. [5] His regime was marked by a protectionist economic policy that did little to overcome the inflation and recession that the country was undergoing at the time, [4] and by the imposition of the death penalty against terrorists and kidnappers. [5] In response to renewed anti-government rioting in Córdoba and to the labor crisis under his leadership, he was deposed on 21 March 1971, by another military junta led by Alejandro Lanusse. [4] [5]
He died on 17 June 2015, at the age of 95. [6] He is the longest-lived President of Argentina. [8]