 Rucci was present on Plaza de Mayo, as well as thousands of workers, on 17 October 1945, a historical date in Peronism.Elected trade union delegate for the first time in 1947, he retained this function until 1953.Following the self-styled "Revolución Libertadora", a military coup which ousted Perón in 1955, Rucci progressively acquired fame by participating in the Peronist Resistance movement, and was jailed several times for breaching decree 4,161, which proscribed the very mention of Perón's name.