During pre-Columbian times, most of the territories that today form Argentina were inhabited by Amerindian peoples without any centralized government, with the exception of the Inca subjects of the Northwest and Cuyo regions.

During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the King of Spain retained the ultimate authority over the territories conquered in the New World, appointing viceroys for local government.

The May Revolution started the Argentine War of Independence by replacing the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with the first national government.

The Assembly of the Year XIII created a new executive authority, with attributions similar to that of a head of state, called the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.

[4] However, the Buenos Aires Province had rejected the Constitution and became an independent state until the aftermath of the 1859 Battle of Cepeda, although the internecine conflict continued.

The retrospective recognition as presidents or heads of state of any de facto ruler that exercised its authority outside the Constitutional mandate is a controversial and relevant issue in Argentine politics.