Eva Peron

" 'I know that, like every woman of the people, I have more strength than I appear to have' "(To be Evita). This memorable quote, by Peron herself, proved to be very much true throughout all of Eva's short but productive life. Maria Eva Duarte was born on May 7, 1919, in the small village of Los Toldos, Argentina, close to Buenos Aires. She was the daughter of a farmer and his homeless mistress, making Eva an illegitimate child since her parent were never married. The stigma of being an illegitimate child stayed with Eva throughout her life, affecting many of her decisions as an adult. As a child, she lived in poverty, often having little to nothing to eat and dirty living conditions, just like the rest of the lower class. These impoverished early days of Eva's life would later be the reason why she fought so hard for better conditions for the poor. At age fifteen, she ran away to Buenos Aires. There, she became an actress and then a radio host. In 1944, Eva went to festival for aiding the homeless where she met a handsome army general, Juan Peron. Both their lives changed forever as they began to fall in love. They married on October 18, 1945, and Juan became President of Argentina in 1946. It was towards the end of her husband's presidency when Eva started getting weak from Uterine cancer. Her condition got worse and worse, until her heart breaking death on June 26, 1952. Even when Eva was growing weak and tired, she still continued to fight for the objectives that she knew she had to achieve for women's suffrage and rights for the poor. Peron was relentless in both areas, making many accomplishments, some of which included founding the Maria Eva Duarte de Peron Welfare Foundation, and the female right to vote in Argentina. Peron only fulfilled these goals because of the heroic characteristics she possessed. She showed dedication when it came to improving the lives of the citizens of Argentina, bravery by making a stand for the things that mattered to her, and selflessness through spending her time helping others instead of getting the treatment she needed for cancer.

Eva Peron displayed dedication through her endless efforts to change the terrible lifestyle of the poor. No Argentinian leader, let alone a First Lady, had ever bothered to amend the horrifying conditions that those in the lower class had to work and live in. Peron's humble origins made her the first person with any power to want to strive for altering the lives of the less fortunate, "She worked endlessly to improve the conditions of the poor of Argentina, often providing homes, health care, and food. In turn, the poor loved her, feeling that she gave them hope. Evita's mission rapidly translated into long hours of hard work." (Loveday). Eva was just one person against a giant mass of problem, intercepted with many obstacles like like resistance from Congress, and conspiracy about the poor. During that time period, no wealthy person in Argentina cared whatsoever about the lower class and how they had to live. Eva Peron was the first person to give the lower class the voice in government they desperately needed. Some, like the Congress, believed that putting in any effort to obtain better health care and houses for the poor was a waste of time and money. Despite all the people trying to stop her, Eva still remained dedicated to passing more laws and providing everything she could for the less fortunate. For the first time, the people of Argentina had faith in a woman, a woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. When Juan became President, Eva knew right away that now that her husband had power, she had to be the one to make a difference for the poor. After all, she had grown up in a ramshackle house, struggling to find food and clothes. Eva was aware that in these dark times, when the lower class was starving and dying, she had to put all of her effort into changing their harsh conditions: " 'I am also Evita, the wife of the leader of the people who have deposited in him all their faith, hope and love' "(To be Evita). Because she was the wife of the President, she had a lot of power, and she knew that she must devote all that power into making the lives of all the people who are counting on her better. Eva's tone here is dominating and determined as she states her significance as First Lady whom the citizens look up to. The less fortunate are counting on Eva and her husband, and she will do anything she can to shed some light on the dark times that the people have had to face. The large amount of time and effort that Eva put into her work showed her determination in bettering the lives of the poor.

Despite being a woman, Peron exhibited bravery by making it clear that she was a leader and also by fighting for controversial topics that even men did not dare to battle over. At the time, First Ladies were instructed to just smile and wave to the people whose lives depended on the actions of their husbands. Eva, on the other hand, viewed herself and other women as equals to men. Eva decided that if Juan was a leader then so was she:"If Peron was atypical, the woman at his side was even more so: she had decided to stand at the side of her man, not behind him. And Peron had accepted that which was unacceptable at the time"(To be Evita). Eva has convinced her husband to accept her as his equal. In that time period, no woman could ever be considered even half as worthy her husband. However, Eva was always different when it came to her views; she believed in equality between man and woman, just like she did with the rich and the poor. She was courageous for being as politically involved as her husband, for many people thought it was improper for Juan to allow his wife to have a say in how to run the country. Eva refused to give up when it came to obtaining the female right to vote, and thus began her battle for women's suffrage. During her husband's candidacy, Peron fought day and night to convince her nation to give women a right to vote. At this time, Eva was starting to get diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. Despite this, she continued her march to the victory she strongly desired: "Although her voice was hoarse, and her illness was leaving its mark on her face, she repeated over and over again the words that her mother once did: 'I do not have time to stop' and 'I have started a race against time'"(Ortiz 208). Peron knew that her days were limited, so she had 'started a race against time'. She used every last breath she had to make congress grant the right for woman to vote. Eva never stopped trying, even though she was becoming extremely ill, because she was aware that this was one war she had to win for the future of Argentina. Eva knew she had to put up a courageous front, even if it was too much for her to bare. Peron's countless efforts to provide voting right for women and to help convince her nation in equality resulted from the bravery she possessed deep inside her soul.

Eva Peron showed selflessness by giving up her time, money, youth, and eventually her health just to better the lives of the citizens of Argentina. Eva's humble beginnings as a child with barely anything to eat affected her views of the way the lower class should be treated. Now that she had risen to power, Eva's only goal was to find a way to change how mistreated the poor were by the government, "She was passionate and willing to sacrifice anything for anyone to reach her goals for the future of Argentina... All she ever wanted was for others to live a more fulfilling life then the miserable nightmare she had somehow managed to escape" (Ortiz 138-139). Peron knew she had to do everything she possibly could to prevent the suffering of innocent people who where drowning in poverty like she once did. Now that she was in a position of power, Eva was aware of the alterations she must make for the people, and also all the sacrifices she would have to make. She would give up anything just to save the people of her nation. Eva's main mission in life was to be there for the needy, even if it meant giving up hours of her time, hours she should have been using to take better care of herself. "She began her mornings by receiving the people with the most urgent needs at the Residence, then going to the Secretaria to meet with the unions and the poor. If she had to interrupt her interviews because of an official reception, homage, visit or any other activity involving protocol, the people left waiting at the Secretaria would stay until she returned. And she always would return and would not leave until everyone had been taken care of" (To be Evita). Eva barely had any time to tend to herself, for she spent every minute of her day trying to tend to the poor. She gave up so many precious hours and fought so hard to achieve her life-long goals. In the end she succeed, because Congress passed health care and working laws for the lower class, but she won at the price of a big sacrifice, her own life. Because of all the long, stressful hours Peron had spent on helping the poor she had gotten a horrible case of cancer which could not be cured. Eva never stopped fighting for what she believed in, and was willing to give up everything, including herself, to improve the lives of the people of Argentina.

Although her years as First lady were short lived, Peron used every single second to become one step closer to transforming Argentina into a better country. She was dedicated when it came to devoting all her efforts for the citizens, brave when she had to stand up to everyone who believed a woman could not be a leader, and selfless when she sacrificed her health over working on improving the lives of others. She did accomplish all the things she was hoping to, like women's right to vote and also convincing congress to increase the wages for the lower class, decrease the hours of work that they had to do, and eventually build new sewer systems for their communities. Eva was even asked to run for vice president in the next election, but her diminishing health and resistance from military circles that despised her made her decline the offer. She was just one woman, but she had her mind strongly set on changing the world. Heroes are supposed to be different, they are supposed to not follow the status quo, and helping out the poor and fighting for women's suffrage was not something anyone had ever dared to do before. The traits that Eva Peron had, dedication, bravery, and selflessness all combined into making her different from any other First Lady of Argentina. She was a beacon of hope for the citizens at the time, and she is still a beacon of hope to me. Everything she did was for the greater good of the people, and I admire her for that. She overcame many obstacles in her life, like being bullied for being a illegitimate child, and having to survive on her own as a teenager with no money. Everything, from the way she carried herself to what she said has inspired me to not only have faith in Eva, but also to have faith in myself. If a small, penniless girl managed to become one of the most influential First Ladies of all time, then surely I can make a difference too.

Works Cited
Historical Research Foundation, Evita Peron. "To be Evita." Evita Peron Historical Research Foundation. Evita Peron Historical Research Foundation, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2014 .
Loveday, Veronica. "Eva Peron." Web.b.ebscohost.com. Ebsco, 2005. Web. 21 Mar. 2014
Ortiz, Alicia Dujovne, and Shawn Fields. Eva Peron. New York: St. Martin's, 1996. Print