Duvalier Regime

The Duvalier regime is said to be one of the worst administrations in Haiti killing more than 30,000 people. The regimes of Francois Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier who ruled Haiti lasted from September 22nd 1957 to February 6th 1986. Francois was trained as a physician and known to his people as "Papa Doc". Duvalier ruled his country as no other Haitian chief executive had, using violence and phony elections to hold down any opposition. Francois made himself president for life and later on put the government in the hands of his son " Baby Doc ". ( Fatton Jr. 36 )

It all began with the Birth of Francois Duvalier. François Duvalier was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on April 14, 1907 to Duval Duvalier and Ulyssia Abraham, a baker. He was largely raised by an aunt and his family belonged to the middle class. His grandfather had been a tailor, and his father was a school-teacher and municipal court judge.

In 1934 , he graduated from the University of Haiti with a medical degree , being one of the few lucky Haitians who were educated. After that , for a decade he practiced medicine and served as staff physician at several local hospitals. He spent one year studying public health at the University of Michigan and then became prominently active in the U.S.-sponsored anti-yaws campaign. .During his career , Francois Duvalier became interested in blacks rights and against the mulatto. Duvalier became involved in the movement a of Haitian author namedDr. Jean Price-Mars.As a contributor to the daily Action Nation, Duvalier was clearly influenced by the mystic scholar Lorimer Denis. He began an ethnological study of Vodou, that later paid enormous political dividends. In 1938, Duvalier co-founded the journal Les ...

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..., most of the administrations didn't last more than 3 years. Both Francois and his son made education available to a population where 1 out of 30 were educated. They did do some good for Haiti.

Bibliography

Abbott, Elizabeth. Haiti: The Duvaliers and their legacy. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991.

"Bio.com." Biography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan 2012. .

"Duvalier."The New Encyclopedia Americana. 9. Danbury,Conneticut: Grolier Inc., 1981. Print.

"Duvalier." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th Edition. 4. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica,Inc., 2007. Print.

Fatton Jr. , Robbert. Haiti's Predatory republic :The unending transition to demcracy . Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002.

"Republic of Haiti."New Standard Encyclopedia. 8. Chicago: Standard Educational Corporation, 2004. Print.