One of the anecdotes that caused me the most fun at the time, when I was involved in research on this particular character, and incredible writer, was that of his candidacy for president.
A note that I read about it, named Macedonian Fernandez as humorous at the idea, and quoted the following phrase said by the author (I quote as I remember): "If a man wants to set up a kiosk, as there are so many men who have kiosks, it will not go well for him. Now, if a man is running as a candidate for president, since there are not too many candidates running, he will probably do well.".
Something that to this day I remember as the most laughable attitude, although more typical of the writer. The truth is that, when I started researching to find out more about the subject, I came across an article written by Carlos Garcia, entitled Macedonian President ?.
In it, the researcher displays various elements and quotes from authors, in order to clarify the confusion that has arisen over the alleged candidacy throughout history. And it is that, between 1920/23 and 1926/28, Macedonio Fernández could or could not stand for election. Between these two dates it is not clear whether the author did it or not. The truth is that García, in his research, shows that there was no candidacy, but rather an effect on the cause generated. That is, Macedonio began a pseudo campaign in order to reach the people, by distributing little pieces of paper with his name, for example. At no time did he appear as a candidate, nor did he ask for a vote on his behalf.
If it has been confirmed, through his relatives, that in '20, Macedonio Fernández did yearn to get to occupy a position in the presidential house, but it was not that of secret adviser to the president. But, as far as the records go, there was never a definitive nomination.
This anecdote is still one of the many ingenious outings with which Macedonio made himself present, both among his circle of friends, and in society itself, the recipient of his delusions.
Next, a text by Borges that I believe clarifies much of what was exposed here.
The mechanism of fame interested [MF], not its obtaining. For a year or two he played with the vast and vague purpose of being President of the Republic. […] The most necessary thing (he repeated) was the diffusion of the name. […] Macedonio chose to take advantage of his curious first name; My sister and some of her friends wrote Macedonio's name on strips of paper or on cards, which they carefully forgot in confectioneries, on trams, on sidewalks, in hallways of houses, and in movie theaters. […] From these more or less imaginary maneuvers, the execution of which should not be rushed, because we had to proceed with extreme caution, the project for a great fantasy novel arose, set in Buenos Aires, and which we began to write together. […] The play was entitled The Man Who Will Be President; The characters in the fable were Macedonio's friends and on the last page the reader would receive the revelation that the book had been written by Macedonio Fernández, the protagonist, and by the Dabove brothers and by Jorge Luis Borges, who was killed at the end of the chapter nine, and by Carlos Pérez Ruiz, who had that singular adventure with the rainbow, and so on. Two arguments were interwoven in the work: one, visible, the curious steps taken by Macedonio to be president of the Republic; another, secret, the conspiracy concocted by a sect of neurasthenic and perhaps crazy millionaires, to achieve the same end. They resolve to undermine and undermine the resistance of the people through a gradual series of cumbersome inventions. The first (the one suggested by the novel) is that of the automatic sugar bowls, which, in fact, prevent the coffee from being sweetened. This is followed by others: the double pen, with a pen at each end, threatening to prick the eyes; the steep stairs in which no two steps are the same height; the highly recommended razor-comb, which cuts our fingers; the equipment made with two new antagonistic materials, so that the big things are very light and the very small very heavy, to evade our expectations; the multiplication of embedded paragraphs in detective novels; enigmatic poetry and Dadaist or Cubist painting. In the first chapter, devoted almost entirely to the perplexity and fear of a young countryman at the doctrine that there is no I, and therefore he does not exist, there is only one device, the automatic sugar bowl. In the second there are two, but in a lateral and fleeting way; our purpose was to present them in increasing proportion. We also wanted that as the facts went crazy, the style went crazy; for the first chapter we chose the conversational tone of Pío Baroja; the last one would have corresponded to Quevedo's most baroque pages. In the end the government collapses; Macedonio and Fernández Latour enter the Casa Rosada, but nothing means anything in that anarchic world. In this unfinished novel there may well be some involuntary reflection of the Man who was Thursday.
Source: