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A picture of Haitian President Stenio Vencent with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Stenio Vincent began life in Port-au-Prince. He earned a law degree by the time he was 18, quickly rising in state politics to become a Chamber of Deputies leader in 1915. Fifteen years later he made a bid for the presidency, running on a platform of anti-U.S. sentiment. The Americans had been occupying Haiti for the last 15 years and the tide of popular opinion was on Vincent's side. He assumed the presidency in 1930.

In 1934 the U.S. stopped occupying Haiti and Vincent began to rule as a tyrant. His administration hunted down dissident leaders and jailed them for their political views. As it served his purposes, Vincent became a supporter of American interests, due to a trade agreement with the U.S. benefiting Haiti greatly.

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