Massaccesi was born in 1948 to an Italian Argentine family in Villa Regina, then a largely agricultural town on the banks of the Río Negro in Argentina's region of Patagonia.
He joined the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1974, while in law school, and on Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, Massaccesi was elected to the Provincial Legislature.
Governor Osvaldo Álvarez Guerrero named him Minister of Government (similar to a Chief of Staff) in 1984, a recognition which led to his election to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies (Lower House of Congress) in 1985.
Continuing financial instability, however, led Menem's new Economy Minister, Domingo Cavallo, to retain around US$60 million in revenue sharing funds derived from the orchard-rich Río Negro Province's growing export earnings.
Termed out as Governor, Massaccesi left a province in financial straits, though he earned plaudits for his policies streamlining the bloated provincial government and for supporting new casinos, for instance.
Keeping a low profile in the Senate, he did not run for reelection in 2001 (a disastrous year for the UCR, which had gained the presidency in 1999 on an Alliance ticket with the center-left Frepaso).