The Argentine presidential line of succession is the order in which officials may assume the office of the president of Argentina in the case of vacancy due to illness, death, resignation or impeachment (as a final consequence of a trial in the Chamber of Deputies and subsequent indictment and sentencing by the Senate).
Paz died on 2 January 1868 due to a cholera epidemic affecting Buenos Aires at that time, leaving the office vacant since president Mitre could not return immediately.
As no law on the subject was in place, Ministers Guillermo Rawson (Interior), Juan Andrés Gelly y Obes (War), Marcelino Ugarte (Foreign Affairs), Lucas González (Taxation) and José Evaristo Uriburu (Justice) assumed the office transitorily.
[9] Supreme Court Judge Julio C. Oyhanarte and Minister of Defense Rodolfo Martínez took advantage of this deadlock, thinking of a legal path to maintain democracy and, with the office of the vice president also vacant after the resignation of Alejandro Gómez in November 1958,[10] convoked José María Guido, provisional president of the Senate, to the Palace of Justice to take the oath of office and avoid a coup d'état.
[15] Rodríguez Saá announced a default on external debt and the creation of a new currency, the Argentino, but on 30 December, after a failed meeting with governors in Chapadmalal, he traveled to his home province and resigned from office.