Presidential elections were held in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on February 1, 1942. Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p262 The result was a victory for

Juan Antonio Ríos Juan Antonio Ríos Morales (; November 10, 1888 – June 27, 1946) was a Chilean political figure who served as president of Chile from 1942 to 1946, during the height of World War II. He died in office. Early life Ríos was born at the ''Hu ...

of the Radical Party, who received 56% of the vote.

Electoral system

The election was held using the absolute majority system, under which a candidate had to receive over 50% of the popular vote to be elected. If no candidate received over 50% of the vote, both houses of the National Congress would come together to vote on the two candidates who received the most votes.

Background

In 1941, due to his rapidly escalating illness, President

Pedro Aguirre Cerda Pedro Abelino Aguirre Cerda (; February 6, 1879 – November 25, 1941) was a Chilean political figure, educator, and lawyer who served as the 22nd president of Chile from 1938 until his death in 1941. A member of the Radical Party since 1906, ...

appointed his Minister of the Interior, Jerónimo Méndez as vice-president and died soon after, on November 25, 1941. Aguirre Cerda's two natural successors were

and

Gabriel González Videla Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; November 22, 1898 – August 22, 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 193 ...

, both members of his Radical Party, while the right-wing coalition was united by a common candidate, former President

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as President twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. ...

, who had the support of the

Conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, National Socialist Party, Popular Socialist Vanguard and the majority of the independents. Ríos started to campaign early but two days before the internal primaries of his party, Gabriel González Videla (the ambassador to Brazil) returned to Chile to dispute him the nomination. The results were too close to call, so a ''tribunal of honor'' (electoral commission) was constituted, and Juan Antonio Ríos was finally proclaimed the candidate of a left-wing coalition of parties, the Democratic Alliance, which was formed by the Radical Party, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and the Workers' Socialist Party. One of the candidates in the election was identified by American and British intelligence as an ally of the Axis countries, which led to debates in the US government about intervening in the election and abandoning Franklin D. Roosevelt's

Good Neighbor policy The Good Neighbor policy ( ) was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt towards Latin America. Although the policy was implemented by the Roosevelt administration, President Woodrow Wilson had prev ...

Results

References

{{Chilean elections Presidential elections in Chile 1942 in Chile

February 1942 events Election and referendum articles with incomplete results