Ricardo Balbín (29 July 1904 – 9 September 1981) was an Argentine lawyer and politician, and one of the most important figures of the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR), for which he was the presidential nominee four times: in 1951, 1958, and twice in 1973.

The year he married was also one of active political participation for Balbín, who worked on the presidential campaign that returned Hipólito Yrigoyen to the presidency.

Following President Alejandro Lanusse's call in 1972 for free elections, Balbín was again nominated presidential candidate for the UCR over Raúl Alfonsín, with Senator Eduardo Gamond as his running mate.

At the end of that year Perón returned from exile and met Balbín, promising to resolve historical differences to preserve the popular movement.

Following the definitive return of Perón to Argentina in June, the governing body resigned and snap elections were called for September.

During this dictatorship, Balbín was criticized for not denouncing unprecedented human rights violations taking place amid the Dirty War against both violent and non-violent dissidents.

Balbín died in La Plata in September 1981; even though political demonstrations were illegal, a crowd gathered at his funeral to give him a last farewell.

A monument in his honor was unveiled near Congress in 1999 and National Route 1 was named after him in 2004; the expressway connects Buenos Aires with his adopted city, La Plata.