De la Rua's personality stood in
complete contrast to that of the
flamboyant Menem. He is known for
his steadiness rather than his
charisma and, in 1999, he seemed to
represent the fiscal and moral
probity that Argentines, tired of
the excesses of Menem's
administration in its later years,
felt their country needed. After the
country began to buckle under the
weight of a heavy foreign debt and a
crippling four-year recession,
however, the consequential high
unemployment rate lead to an
outburst of rioting that forced de
la Rua to resign only two years into
his term. After three short-term
replacements in two weeks, Senator
Eduardo Duhalde was named president
on January 2, 2002, and given a two
year term.Though many now have hopes
for a complete overhaul of the
political scenery, others remember
the deficit that Buenos Aires
suffered during his run as the
city's governor of Buenos Aires from
1991 to 1999 and are skeptical