History Blog THREE :)

During the six years of Juan Peron’s presidency in which Eva Peron was with her husband, prior to her death from cancer in 1952, Evita was able to accomplish many outstanding social changes, helping many in the country of Argentina. Nominated as the Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina in the last year of her life, Eva spent most of her time finding ways to help the working class, in a similar fashion of that of her husband. In the time that she was in office at Peron’s side, Eva was able to accomplish such community services as helping women in need, the elderly, children without homes, impoverished citizens, and most importantly, gaining women the right to vote.
After Juan Peron was elected, Eva Peron began the Eva Peron Foundation which, in the beginning, was funded by Eva, and eventually received funding from the government. She began creating jobs for those without work, building homes for those without homes. Eva brought about social change that paralleled some of the work her husband was trying to accomplish, encouraging the reduction of the gap between the upper class citizens and the working class citizens. The jobs that were provided were found in the construction of homes for those without a place to live, creating entire cities for families of all sizes. Evita also opened up homes for unwed mothers, creating a safe space for women that would usually be turned away by family. Along with the homes for women, Eva created retirement homes for he elderly and orphanages for children that were designed to help the kids learn and practice the important morals, values, and safety measures of life.
Another aspect of her impact on the social field of the time was the separation that she helped create amongst the classes. Although she was doing great things for the lower working class, providing positive aspects of life that some had never had before, she was also creating what the upper class found as an unfair balance of giving to the poor, raising concern as to where she was receiving all of the money for her funding and whether or not it was going to create an unstable economy. Eva may have been loved by many, but many saw her as a threat to their class and the fight over whether or not she was a positive aspect of the country would cause problems within the population then and even today.
With Eva’s many accomplishments, there is one that stands out above the others as the great heritage that she has left behind. One of the first acts Eva pursued, coming into the role as first lady of Argentina, was to give women the right to vote. Before she had entered the government, only men could vote and women’s suffrage was not given any support. In September 1947, the law was finally passed to give women the equal political standing as men. Having it approved by the Senate, the House of Representatives, and getting its final seal from her husband himself, Eva Peron successfully started the process of bringing women out of the role of the second class citizens.