In 1948, having worked doing dishes and laundry in order to support himself through his studies, he graduated with a degree in engineering before returning to an El Salvador uncomfortably transitioning to a democracy.

[citation needed] After leaving office in 1970, he set up his own estate agency until he ran in the February 20, 1972 presidential election under a political grouping called the United National Opposition (UNO).

[citation needed] On 15 October 1979, a Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) took control of El Salvador, deposing President Carlos Humberto Romero.

The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) responded by launching an all out attack on the government on January 10, 1981, which resulted in the regime receiving immediate military aid and advisors from the United States of America.

[citation needed] With the arrival of the new US government of Ronald Reagan, Duarte became a symbol for "anti-communist" resistance in Central America although support for the FMLN from the Soviet Union has been questioned by Noam Chomsky.

During his time at the head of the JRG, Duarte initiated land reform and nationalized certain industries such as sugar as well as denouncing human rights violations by the military and the FMLN alike.

However, members of the military and affiliated death squad paramilitaries continued to carry out atrocities against the civilian population during his rule as the head of JRG, under the pretext of eliminating terrorists.

As both candidates were known to have close links with wartime undemocratic factions, the US government spent approximately US$2 million to support the democratic process and prevent violence at the voting polls.

On 10 September 1985, his daughter, Inés Guadalupe Duarte Durán, and her friend, Ana Cecilia Villeda, arrived by car at the gates of a private university in San Salvador.

[citation needed] Four days after the incident, the self-styled Pedro Pablo Castillo commando of the FMLN publicly announced that it had been responsible for the abduction of the women.

[citation needed] On 24 October, after several weeks of negotiations in which the Salvadoran church and diplomats from the region acted as mediators in secret talks, Inés Duarte and her friend were released in exchange for 22 political prisoners.

The operation also included the release of 25 mayors and local officials abducted by FMLN in exchange for 101 war wounded guerrillas, whom the government allowed to leave the country.

In August, he participated in the historic Esquipulas II agreement with other leaders to lay the groundwork for a firm and lasting peace in Central America by outlining the demobilization of the guerrilla groups in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

With corruption scandals, an economy in tatters, rumors of a right-wing coup, and a civil war that did not appear to have a solution, the government became ineffective, unstable, and unable to stop the indiscriminate violence and brutality.

[citation needed] In June 1988, Duarte was rushed to a military hospital in Washington, DC, where he was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer and given between 6 months to a year to live.

In spite of having to stay in the United States for surgery and chemotherapy, he refused to resign as president, and he handed power over constitutionally to Alfredo Cristiani in June 1989.

[citation needed] In his autobiography, Duarte wrote: "When the structures and values of Salvadoran society exemplify a democratic system, then the revolution I have worked for will have taken place.