[1] Born in Anillaco, La Rioja, to a Syrian family, Menem was raised as a Muslim,[2] but later converted to Roman Catholicism to pursue a political career.

The Peronist victory in the 1993 midterm elections allowed him to persuade Alfonsín, by then leader of the opposition party Radical Civic Union, to sign the Pact of Olivos for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution.

[8] Menem met Admiral Eduardo Massera, who intended to run for president, and had public meetings with personalities such as Carlos Monzón, Susana Giménez, and Alberto Olmedo.

The Partido Justicialista at the time was divided into two factions, the conservatives that still supported the political doctrines of Juan and Isabel Perón, and those who proposed a renovation of the party.

[5] Antonio Cafiero, who had been elected governor of Buenos Aires Province, led the renewal of the Partido Justicialista, and was considered their most likely candidate for the presidency.

Menem's accession marked the first time since Hipólito Yrigoyen took office in 1916 that an incumbent president peacefully transferred power to an elected successor from the opposition.

Menem drastically corrected, with accurate intuition and a firm pulse, the mistaken tendency to include among the functions of the State a number of business, industrial and commercial activities that had nothing to do with its essential mission.

The results of its economic policy were reflected in an anticipated entry into the globalized world that was built after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in a rapid modernization of the country's productive infrastructure, and stability, which is the basis of long-term growth.

His program of structural transformation of the country was interrupted and many strategic changes that were essential for the reforms of the previous period to produce the expected results were not executed."

[17] At the time, most economists thought that the ideal solution was the Washington Consensus; i.e. reduce expenditures below the amount of money earned by the state, and open international commerce to free trade.

Alfonsín had proposed similar reforms in the past, alongside some limited privatization of state-owned enterprises; those projects were resisted by the Partido Justicialistal opposition party, whose internal factions were actually benefiting from the prevailing protectionist policies.

The Convertibility plan was sanctioned by Congress, setting a one-to-one fixed exchange rate between the United States dollar and the new peso, which replaced the austral.

[24] Under Cavallo, there was increased free trade, alongside a general reduction of tariffs on imports and state regulations to tackle inflation, and high taxes on sales and earnings to reduce the deficit caused by it.

[28] Cavallo soon began the second wave of privatizations, this time targeting the national postal service, the Correo Argentino, and the country's nuclear power plants.

[31] The growing discontent over unemployment and the scandals caused by the privatization of the postal service led to Cavallo's removal as a minister, and his replacement by Roque Fernández.

[36][37] He divorced his wife Zulema Yoma and expanded the Quinta de Olivos presidential residence with a golf course, a small zoo, servants, a barber, and even a buffoon.

[38] The swiftgate scandal broke out in December 1990, as American investors were damaged by a case of corruption, and asked for assistance from the United States' Ambassador Terence Todman.

[40] Antonio Cafiero, a rival of Menem in the Partido Justicialistal, was unable to amend the constitution of the province of Buenos Aires to run for re-election.

Menem also selected famous people with no political background to run for office in those elections, including the singer Palito Ortega and racing driver Carlos Reutemann.

Estanislao Esteban Karlic replaced Antonio Quarracino as the head of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, which led to a growing opposition to Menem from the Church.

The Partido Justicialista lost the 1997 midterm elections against the UCR and the FREPASO united in a political coalition, the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education (Alianza).

The diplomatic relations between Argentina and Israel were later damaged by the lack of results in the investigations over the terrorist attacks against the Israeli embassy and the AMIA center in Buenos Aires.

[53] Former Chilean foreign minister José Miguel Insulza recalls of meetings with Menem and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle in Anillaco in the 1990s where they enjoyed talking about politics and football.

First, he arranged the repatriation of the body of Juan Manuel de Rosas, a controversial 19th century governor, and proposed to reconcile his legacy with those of Bartolomé Mitre and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who also fought in the Argentine Civil Wars.

Menem appointed Lt. Gen. Martín Balza, who had performed well during the repression of Seineldín's mutiny, as the Army's General Chief of Staff (head of the military hierarchy).

[61] Menem had suggested, in the first press conference, that former Carapintada leaders may be responsible for the attack, but this idea was rejected by the minister of defense several hours later.

The helicopter reportedly struck overhead power lines near Ramallo in the north of the province of Buenos Aires and crashed, killing both men.

[81] In August 2008, the BBC reported that Menem was under investigation for his role in the 1995 Río Tercero explosion, which is alleged to have been part of the weapons scandal involving Croatia and Ecuador.

[101] Contrary to Peronist tradition, Menem did not prepare huge rallies in the Plaza de Mayo to address the people from the balcony of the Casa Rosada.

Milei praised that, unlike most Argentine politicians Menem had worked in the private sector before getting started in politics, and that he pardoned the military and guerrillas alike even if facing rejection from his own family.