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 of Swiss and Croatian descent.
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, a fellow member of the Justicialist Party.
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.
His sister Alicia Margarita Kirchner is the Minister for Social Development.
| Preceded by: Eduardo Duhalde |
Presidents of Argentina | Succeeded by: -Currently in office- |