Paul Magloire

Rafael L. Trujillo welcoming newly-elected Haitian President Paul Magloire in Ciudad Trujillo, Santo Domingo in February 1951. also present were, army officer Hector and Trujillo's son Ramfis.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (born on October 24, 1891) was a Dominican politician, soldier and dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. Trujillo was killed by a group of rebels determined to topple his regime. He was Dominican President between 1930-1938 and 1942-1952. In 1937, he ordered the massacre that took more than 35,000 Haitian lives on charges of invading the Dominican Republic. It was launched by the army with common criminals released for these purposes against Haitians living in the Dominican Republic's northwestern frontier and in certain parts of the adjacent Cibao region. It was a shameful and brutal event that harmed his prestige in the entire world. Punishment for the atrocity amounted to an agreement in which a paltry US $525,000 was paid to the Haitian government. Haitian President Élie Lescot put the death toll at 12,168; in 1953, the Haitian historian Jean Price-Mars cited 12,136 deaths and 2,419 injuries. In 1975, Joaquín Balaguer, the Dominican Republic's interim Foreign Minister at the time of the massacre, put the number of dead at 17,000. Other estimates compiled by the Dominican historian Bernardo Vega went as high as 35,000. Before the massacre, Trujillo made his intentions towards the Haitian community clear in a short speech which he delivered on 2 October 1937 at a dance in his honor in Dajabón. He accused Haitians on charges of thefts of cattle, provisions, fruits, etc., and thus they were preventing Dominican people to live a peaceful life.

Trujillo was a man of bad temper, but had many fabricated justifications of such mass genocide. With the crash of world markets and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the price of sugar fell drastically, sugar production was cut, and the Haitian worker was no longer in demand in the Dominican Republic. In 1931, Trujillo took power and began to deport Haitians living in the Dominican Republic using discriminatory and inhuman policy to the Haitians. However, when in the 1950s, when the economic situation became reversed, he took a different tone because, by then he had accumulated about 75% of the Dominican sugar mills and had forced many U.S. competitors out of business. To maximize his profit, he turned to the Haitian workers. In 1952, Trujillo and Haiti's President, Paul Magloire, signed a bilateral agreement in which the Dominican Republic bought 16,500 Haitian workers directly from the Haitian government. These migratory Haitian sugar cane cutters were kept in wooden barracks where there was no running water, no electricity, and no bathrooms; the workers were not allowed to leave except to cut sugar cane. Armed guards from the sugar companies kept close watch on them. However, the Haitian government received compensation in selling these men; the money never trickled down into the worker's hands.

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Paul Magloire, an army colonel who in 1950 became president of Haiti.

Paul Magloire was born in 1907 in Quartier Morin, the son of a high-ranking military officer in Haiti's army. Magloire was ousted by a coup and replaced by François "Doc" Duvalier.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (born on October 24, 1891) was a Dominican politician, soldier and dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. Trujillo was killed by a group of rebels determined to topple his regime. He was Dominican President between 1930-1938 and 1942-1952. In 1937, he ordered the massacre that took more than 35,000 Haitian lives on charges of invading the Dominican Republic. It was launched by the army with common criminals released for these purposes against Haitians living in the Dominican Republic's northwestern frontier and in certain parts of the adjacent Cibao region. It was a shameful and brutal event that harmed his prestige in the entire world. Punishment for the atrocity amounted to an agreement in which a paltry US $525,000 was paid to the Haitian government. Haitian President Élie Lescot put the death toll at 12,168; in 1953, the Haitian historian Jean Price-Mars cited 12,136 deaths and 2,419 injuries. In 1975, Joaquín Balaguer, the Dominican Republic's interim Foreign Minister at the time of the massacre, put the number of dead at 17,000. Other estimates compiled by the Dominican historian Bernardo Vega went as high as 35,000. Before the massacre, Trujillo made his intentions towards the Haitian community clear in a short speech which he delivered on 2 October 1937 at a dance in his honor in Dajabón. He accused Haitians on charges of thefts of cattle, provisions, fruits, etc., and thus they were preventing Dominican people to live a peaceful life.

Trujillo was a man of bad temper, but had many fabricated justifications of such mass genocide. With the crash of world markets and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the price of sugar fell drastically, sugar production was cut, and the Haitian worker was no longer in demand in the Dominican Republic. In 1931, Trujillo took power and began to deport Haitians living in the Dominican Republic using discriminatory and inhuman policy to the Haitians. However, when in the 1950s, when the economic situation became reversed, he took a different tone because, by then he had accumulated about 75% of the Dominican sugar mills and had forced many U.S. competitors out of business. To maximize his profit, he turned to the Haitian workers. In 1952, Trujillo and Haiti's President, Paul Magloire, signed a bilateral agreement in which the Dominican Republic bought 16,500 Haitian workers directly from the Haitian government. These migratory Haitian sugar cane cutters were kept in wooden barracks where there was no running water, no electricity, and no bathrooms; the workers were not allowed to leave except to cut sugar cane. Armed guards from the sugar companies kept close watch on them. However, the Haitian government received compensation in selling these men; the money never trickled down into the worker's hands.

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Here is a picture of Haitian president Paul Eugène Magloire on the far left and American President, Dwight D. Eisenhower on the far right with their respective wives in Washington, D.C., United States,1955.

During his visit to the United States paid a visit to Fisk University in Nashville. He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree by the president of the University, Charles S. Johnson

On February 22, 1954 - President Paul Magloire appeared on the Cover of Time Magazine, the world's largest circulation for a weekly news magazine.

Many consider Magloire's period as Haiti's golden age - during his rule, tourism reached at its peak and Haitian coffee exports flourished with high prices. He refurbished towns and built roads, public square, a cathedral, the country's first major dam and other infrastructure projects and cultivated good relations with the Dominican Republic and instituted a Five Year Plan in 1951 to boost agricultural productions. Attempts were made to invite foreign investments and implement economic and social planning. Women were given voting power and direct popular election of the president was introduced.

During his rule Haiti became a favorite tourist spot for American and European tourists. His anti-communist position also gained favorable reception from the US government. Magloire banned the Marxist Popular Socialist Party (PSP) and Peasant Worker Movement Party (MOP) in December 1950. In 1954, as part of the 150th anniversary of Haiti's independence and the major urban and rural infrastructure projects undertaken on that occasion and also because of Haiti's economic recovery, Paul Magloire was honored by Time Magazine. On February 22, 1954 - President Paul Magloire appeared on the Cover of Time Magazine. A year later he was honored at the White House. Magloire's official visit to the United States was between January 26 and February 6, 1955. He was on a nine-day official visit to Washington and New York. After that he made an unofficial six-day visit to Nashville, Chicago and Boston. President Magloire and Mrs. Magloire and their entourage were received by the vice president Nixon at Andrews Air Force Base. Nixon was also President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Deputies.

For his significant achievement and as Head of State, he received a warm welcome and honor on January 31, 1955, with a ticker-tape parade in New York from the Battery to City Hall. The first of such parade was held on the opening ceremony of the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886. President Magloire's official accommodation was provided at the Lincoln's Bedroom, White House. President Eisenhower and Mrs. Eisenhower welcomed President Magloire and Mrs Yolette Leconte Magloire.

Magloire addressed at the 84th joint session of Congress where he praised President Eisenhower's civil rights record. He was the third Negro to address a joint session (Liberian President Edwin Barclay in 1943, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie in 1954). He also praised President Eisenhower's effort to eliminate all sorts of misunderstanding which is a common objective for the countries in the western hemisphere. A state dinner was followed by official address to the United States Congress.

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Haitian President Paul E. Magloire addresses a joint session of U.S. congress in 1955. He is being supported by U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and House Speaker.

In January 1955, Haitian President Paul Eugene Magloire was invited to the United States for an official visit and stayed at the White House with the President and Mrs. Eisenhower. He received a warm welcome and was given a ticker-tape parade, possibly due to his anti-communist stand. On January 25, 1955, Paul E. Magloire addressed at the 84th joint session of Congress where he praised President Eisenhower's civil rights record. He was the third Negro to address a joint session (Liberian President Edwin Barclay in 1943, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie in 1954). He also praised President Eisenhower's effort to eliminate all sorts of misunderstanding which is a common objective for the countries in the western hemisphere. He visited Washington with Mrs. Magloire on a two week trip as a guest of U.S President. They were welcomed at the airport by Vice President Richard Nixon and State Secretary John Foster Dulles and their wives. Following this trip, the U.S vice president Richard Nixon visited Haiti on March 3, 1955.

During his trip, Nixon had a formal meeting with the Haitian cabinet at the Presidential Palace and a conference where he expressed his concern for a paltry sanction (two million dollars) to Haiti for infrastructural development by International Bank. However, he was hopeful about the negotiation of a loan amount of $7 million by Export-Import Bank for the Artibonite dam and irrigation project (On April 20, 1955, the fund was sanctioned). He remained sincere and attentive all through the conference and admitted the need for a grant-in-aid to rehabilitate the loss caused by Hurricane Hazel in October 1954. During his short trip, Nixon once made a break from Magloire and met a woman with a donkey on the road. He asked the lady through his interpreter what is the name of her donkey? The lady replied, donkey!

There are many unknown facts which if revealed, could open new chapters in history or shed light on the dark side of the characters of great statesmen and politicians. "Walking Through Walls: A Memoir" is such a book written by Philip Smith. Author's father, Lew Philip was the interior designer of the White House. Lew was a psychic healer as well.
Before the visit of Richard Nixon to Haiti, Haitian President Paul Magloire made several phone calls to Philip's father because he needed the guest rooms of his presidential palace freshened up as soon as possible since he was expecting a visit from Nixon to review Haitian troops. However, his over-enthusiastic hospitality could not hide his real motive; it was quite clear to the White House that he wanted to keep the U.S happy because he was wanting to drop a pot of foreign aid on himself, which would never see the light of the day after it landed silently on his Swiss bank account. Next part of the story is truly shocking. When the author's father Lew arrived in Haiti and completed the decoration as was asked for, Mrs. Magloire was very satisfied with his work, but in exchange, she asked her guards to hold Lew at gunpoint and forced him to newly decorate her whole palace before leaving for the U.S. Before Lew, one Italian decorator went missing in Haiti forever. It took Lew about six months to complete the decoration to the most splendid palace imaginable at an astronomical cost and Lew received a single 'glass paperweight with Magloire's portrait' as a price for his service. Lew's family was in complete darkness on his whereabouts in Haiti, his wife, preparing for widowhood, moved from door to door in the U.S. but none cared for a decorator's wife.

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Here is a picture of General Paul Magloire being decorated by Haitian President Dumarsais Estimé

Magloire was from the rising, black middle-class in Haiti. "Kanson Fé" or "Iron Pants"), as he was known, Magloire overthrew the disastrous regime of President Elie Lescot in 1946. He later allowed the election of a liberal black president, Dumarsais Estimé. When President Dumarsais Estimé, tried to extend his term of office in 1950, with the help of a local elite, Magloire ousted him and took power.

Paul Magloire ("Kanson Fé) being Decorated by President Dumarsais Estimé
Paul Eugène Magloire (July 19, 1907 - July 12, 2001) was a Haitian general's son. He joined the army in 1930 and became Police Chief of Port-au-Prince in 1944. In 1946, he participated in a successful coup against President Élie Lescot. In 1950, while he was serving as an army general, he ousted President Dumarsais Estimé with the help of a local elite and installed himself as ruler.

Before the long dictatorship of the Duvaliers which took the country back again in a period of oppression, his period of rule as president between 1950 and 1956 is marked as a period of unusual peace and efforts at modernization. Many consider Magloire's period as Haiti's golden age - during his era, tourism reached at its peak and Haitian coffee exports drew high prices. He refurbished towns and built roads, a cathedral, public square, the country's first major dam and other infrastructure projects and cultivated good relations with the Dominican Republic. Attempts were made to invite foreign investments and implement economic and social planning. Women were given voting power and direct popular election of the president was introduced.

However, the good days ended in 1954 when Haiti was hit by Hurricane Hazel. The hurricane inflicted heavy damage on the economy, relief funds were stolen, and Magloire's popularity fell. After two years, he was ousted by the military and went into exile in New York. When François Duvalier took the presidency, he stripped Magloire of his Haïtian citizenship. At the end of Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, when Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) fled to France, Magloire returned to Haiti. He was an unofficial adviser to Henri Namphy, who briefly ruled Haiti in 1988. It was a mark of appreciation for his past deed to the country.

The mulattos were happy under the reign of Magloire because their shameless privilege and racism received patronage and reached the apogee of their power, and Magloire's tough stand (Kanson Fé) with the mulattos took them to a height of command and enjoyment. He restored the elites to the prominence.

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Here is a picture of Vice President Richard Nixon of the United States and his wife Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon during a visit to Haiti in 1955. President Paul Magloire was accompanied with his wife, Yolette Leconte Magloire.

When former U.S President Richard Nixon visited Haiti back in 1955 along with his wife Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon, he was acting in the capacity of Vice President of U.S and Haiti was under the leadership of ruler Paul Magloire. On March 3, 1955, following the formal presentation of the Cabinet to Vice President Nixon at the Palace, the Vice President attended a conference on the request of Haitian President Magloire. Richard Nixon was accompanied by some dignitaries like Assistant Secretary of State Holland, the American Ambassador, the Haitian Ambassador to the United States and Mr. Robert Newbegin. M. Mauclair Zéphirin, Secretary of State for Foreign Relations, acted as interpreter.

During the conference, Nixon expressed his deep concern because the International Bank had indicated that the maximum loan it could make to Haiti would be in the sum of two million dollars. He also mentioned that before the visit of International Bank representative in Haiti one year ago in 1954, he was very optimistic about the loan amount. He thought that sanctioned amount would be enough to cover the cost of constructing a highway from Port-au-Prince to Aux Cayes at an estimated cost of seven million dollars. He said he is very hopeful on the outcome of the negotiations of a loan from the Export-Import Bank for the Artibonite dam and irrigation project; it is proceeding satisfactorily and expecting a quick announcement (On April 20, 1955, the Export-Import Bank authorized a $7 million additional loan to Haiti for the flood control and irrigation project in the Artibonite River Valley).

Without making any promise, the Vice President remained very attentive in discussion, made some inquiries to clarify statements made by President Magloire, discussed on different dimensions on the program and activities of the FOA in Haiti, appreciated few ongoing Haitian projects such as irrigation projects in the Aux Cayes area, Ambassador Nixon expressed his wish that a grant-in-aid should be provided to assist Haiti in its economic rehabilitation made necessary by the Hurricane Hazel.

Starting with the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt in 1901, 14 different United States presidents have made a total of 36 visits to the Caribbean. Fourteen (14) Caribbean countries have had at least one visit, with the most visited countries being Bermuda with eight (8) visits, the Bahamas with six (6), Trinidad & Tobago with five (5), and Jamaica with four (4) visits. Franklin D. Roosevelt made the most trips (14) either on vacation or while involved with Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. Of the 13 sovereign countries in the region, four--Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines--have not as of yet been visited by an American president. Haiti has been visited by 3 U.S. Presidents so far:

Calvin Coolidge, July 5-6, 1934 Haiti Cap Haitien: Informal visit en route to a vacation in Hawaii
Bill Clinton March 31, 1995: Haiti Port-au-Prince Attended transition ceremony for United Nations Mission in Haiti
Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton's first joint visit to Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake

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Here is a picture of the Haitian couple, Paul Eugene Magloire and Yolette Leconte Magloire as we are looking at Haitian Wedding tradition.

Two of the most known differences between weddings of other cultures and Haitian weddings include the seating arrangement and the signing of the register. During the ceremony, a groom and his bride sit before each other, mirrored by the bridesmaid and the groom's best man. The witnesses to the marriage sit behind the groom and his best man. Also different is that the marriage certificate sees the entire wedding party as its signatories.

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Here is a picture of three Haitian President at the same time, same place: Picture of Dumarsais Estime, Francois Duvalier and Paul Magloire. All three haitian presidents have made history and some how contributed to make Haiti the country we have today.

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