Néstor Kirchner
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| Became President: | May 25, 2003 |
| Predecessor: | Eduardo Duhalde |
| Date of Birth: | February 25, 1950 |
| Place of Birth: | Río Gallegos |
Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoic, born 25 February 1950 in Río Gallegos, is an Argentine politician.
A Peronist with leftist leanings, he was Governor of Santa Cruz from 1991 until 2003, when he became President of Argentina, defeating former (1989-1999) president Carlos Menem.
Although Menem won the first round of the election on April 27, 2003, he only got 24% of the valid votes – just 2% ahead of Kirchner. This was a Pyrrhic victory, as Menem had an extremely negative image among a large segment of the Argentine population and had virtually no chance of winning on the run-off. After days of speculation, during which polls forecasted a massive Kirchner victory with about a 30%-40% difference, Menem finally decided to stand down. This automatically made Kirchner president of Argentina.
Kirchner succeeded Duhalde on May 25, 2003.
Next elections would normally be held in 2007.
| Preceded by: Eduardo Duhalde |
Presidents of Argentina | Succeeded by: -Currently in office- |