Enrique Peñaranda assumed office as the 38th President of Bolivia on 15 April 1940, and his term was terminated by a coup d'état on 20 December 1943.

Alcides Arguedas, a Liberal Party writer, journalist, and critic of the previous leftist governments, was made Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Colonization, and Immigration.

Another noted writer, Gustavo Adolfo Otero was made Minister of Education, Fine Arts, and Indigenous Affairs.

Faced with opposition from the left-wing in Congress, Peñaranda attempted to form a national unity government for his seventh cabinet.

[5] In December of the same year, Enrique Peñaranda would be deposed by liberal forces of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) and left-wing young officers led by Gualberto Villarroel.

The six cabinets of Enrique Peñaranda reflected a brief return to the traditional political order Bolivia had seen prior to the Chaco War.