The son of modest Italian immigrants, he was born in Alcorta, Santa Fe Province, and emigrated to Buenos Aires as a young man to find work.

[1] Following the creation of the 62 Organizations, the political branch of the CGT, to which he ascribed, Rucci quickly progressed inside the unions' hierarchy, alongside fellow UOM leader Augusto Vandor.

At first a unionist leader in the SOMISA steelworking factory in San Nicolás de los Arroyos (the nation's largest), he assumed the post of press secretary of the UOM in 1960, and sat on its board of directors alongside Vandor, Paulino Niembro, Avelino Fernández and Lorenzo Miguel.

[2] Displacing José Alonso in July 1970, Rucci was elected general secretary of the CGT, by 544 delegates on 618 present,[1] during the Normalization Congress, which led to deepened differences between the CGT-Azopardo and the CGTA, which claimed a more radical leftist stance opposed to the military junta.

At least as powerful a symbol among Peronists as the leader himself, Evita had been ordered hidden in Milan by the regime that overthrew Perón in 1955, and their repatriation would buy all concerned in the negotiations time.

[2] Ongoing delays and the failure of the National Accords led Rucci to public threats of a general strike, while maintaining his contacts with Lanusse, and giving Perón the opportunity appear magnanimous by urging against them.

Rucci provided a lasting anecdote on the occasion when, during a strong rain, he greeted Perón as the latter deplaned, and spontaneously opened his umbrella to shield the aging leader.

[3] Making inflation reduction a top policy priority, Economy Minister José Ber Gelbard implemented the Social Pact, which Rucci signed with the Confederación General Económica (CGE) representing management.

[1] The agreement, which proposed a price freeze and an increase of wages, was opposed both by the Peronist Left and by the employers' organizations, who claimed it went against free market precepts.

[1] Years later, the Montoneros' leadership unofficially recognized their responsibility in Rucci's assassination, which emotionally shook the unsentimental Perón, who cried for the first time in public.