Luis Sáenz Peña Dávila (2 April 1822 – 4 December 1907) was a lawyer and President of Argentina. He was the father of president Roque Sáenz Peña. Biography Luis Saenz Peña was born on 2 April 1822 to Roque Julián Sáenz Peña and María Luisa Dávila. He graduated in law from the University of Buenos Aires, and participated in the constitutional assembly of 1860. He was a number of times a national deputy and senator. In 1882, he occupied a seat on the Supreme Court of the Province of Buenos Aires. Later he was employed as president of the Provincial Bank, director of the Academy of Jurisprudence, and had a seat in the General Council of Education. On 18 November 1848, he married Cipriana Lahitte Bonavía (born 6 December 1829, Montevideo, Uruguay - died 23 October 1916) in the Church of San Ignacio, in Buenos Aires. Political office In 1882, he served as a member of the Supreme Court of the Province of Buenos Aires. Later, he served as president of the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires. He was also several times a national deputy and senator. Presidency Luis Sáenz Peña, a prominent Catholic leader, was anointed as a transitional president, after an agreement between the Roquismo and Mitrismo that prevented the electoral participation of the brand new U.C.R. On 12 October 1892, Sáenz Peña was inaugurated president of the country. He began his mandate convinced that his mission was to finish getting out of the Panic of 1890. He decided not to contract new debts, and personally renegotiated the existing ones in London: the financial situation forced the bankers to accept the conditions imposed by the Minister of Finance, Juan José Romero, who got some cuts in the capital and a somewhat longer term. By mid-1893, the crisis could be considered over. During his tenure, the Ministry of Public Works managed to expand the railway network, to the point that all provincial capitals — except La Rioja — were linked by rails. The cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario and Santa Fe finished their ports, and the capital opened the Avenida de Mayo, which for more than half a century would be the show window of the great city. In 1893, Congress approved the creation of the National Charity Lottery, today the National Lottery, which became active in 1894. In 1894, Law 1,894 was enacted, which yielded large