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Title: Juan Peron (World Leaders Past and Present) by John Dechancie ISBN: 0877545480 Publisher: Chelsea House Pub (Library) Pub. Date: June, 1988 Format: Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4

Rating: 4
Summary: Beautiful illustration, bad interpretation, of Peronism
Comment: As is the case with many books aimed at the young reader (I found this book when I was 15), this book simplifies its subject. The only problem is that Peronism and Juan Peron the man are extraordinarily complex. Where this book succeeds is in the linear retelling of who Peron was and what he did, where it fails is in its interpretation of significance behind his actions. In other words, this book has no cultural sensitivity.

In PERON AND THE ENIGMAS OF ARGENTINA Robert D. Crassweller writes, "No one can know the order of precedence between spiritual and psychic appeals and those purely materialistic, and many have assumed that Peronist populism was all bread and no circus bartered for political support. But this is much too narrow a view of human purpose. A great deal that was religious and quasi-religious went into the enfolded depths of Peronism, and Peron made almost exquisite use of the spiritual themes and ethical values that time long forgotten had contributed to the civilization." (pp. 233) This book by Dechancie seems in large part to make this assumption, that Peronism was all bread and and no circus bartered for political support. It does not attempt to understand the spiritual implications inherent in the "caudillo" (strong leader) tradition of which Peron was a part. Such an attitude toward leadership is unheard of in Anglo-Saxon based cultures, in fact, the United States model of government is largely found in opposition to the idea of a strong central leader. It is inevitable then that if one does not view someone like Juan Peron within the context of the Argentine culture, one will not understand him and will project things on to him. Minds shaped by the political landscape of the United States often cannot help but view a strong leader with a hint of suspicion. We rejected the Monarchical system at our country's founding, and strong leaders often look like a monarchy to us. In fact, Juan and Eva Peron indeed became something of a monarchy for their people.

And that is exactly what happens in this book: the author consistently calls Juan Peron a dictator. Most well-researched biographies, such as the one I list above, note that Peron was far from being a dictator. He was elected three times by overwhelming popular support, and even then he often had to bargain for support. All of his decisions were made with the backing of overwhelming popular support. It's just that the setting and the tone of his government was so alien to the North American model that it would often be misinterpreted. Adding to the confusion, World War II had just ended - Peron addressed his followers from the balcony. It didn't "look" good to the North American observer (adding to the confusion, the name "Eva Peron" sounds strikingly like the name "Eva Braun"). And though Peron had admitted to admiration for Mussolini, Peron noted that Mussolini had made great mistakes and Peron never erected a fascist government. Further, there was no official anti-semitism in Peronism and some noted there was less bigotry against Jewish people in Buenos Aires during Peron's era than there was in New York City of the same time-frame. The Jewish population in Buenos Aires was at that time, and remains, one of the largest in the world. Thankfully, this book makes note of the fact that there were no slaughterhouses in Peronism and that Peron was eager to renounce his position of power and go into exile in Spain rather than engulf his country in a bloody civil war. It was the military dictators who assumed power after Peron who would disappear tens of thousands of people in the Dirty War (For a beautiful and haunting movie about the Argentine Dirty War, see the movie available on Amazon called THE OFFICIAL STORY).

Peron is ambiguous to one not fully aware of his history. Without full awareness of Peronism's history, one is forced to make assumptions about him and place him in the mental categories at hand. "Dictator" seems about right for those not familiar with the system Peron worked in and represented, and that is the word this book often uses.

I would recommend this book to someone interested in the linear narration of Peron's life (when he was born, where he served as a general, when he became President, when he fled to Spain, when he returned, etc.), but I would caution against taking the interpretations of the author too literally. The thing that I find outstanding about this book is the incredible parade of pictures, though all black and white they are very high quality reproductions (finding high quality reproductions from the Peronist era can be difficult). To see what the cover of this book looks like, search for the VHS video "Juan & Evita Peron" available on the Amazon site (this video is on my list of "Eva Perón - Biographies and studies of Evita" [#18 on my list]). The cover artwork is the same on both products (though the cover text, obviously, is different).