# François Duvalier Elected President (1957)

URL: https://allhistories.com/haiti/timeline/1957-francois-duvalier-elected-president
Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Themes: ruler-change

François Duvalier, born in Port-au-Prince in 1907, was a country doctor who had earned a reputation fighting yaws and other tropical diseases in an American-funded public health campaign, which earned him the nickname "Papa Doc". An ethnologist associated with the noiriste movement, he had served as minister of health and labour under Estimé and presented himself as the heir of the 1946 revolution and the champion of the black majority. In the election of 22 September 1957, organised by the military junta, Duvalier won 679,884 votes against 266,993 for Louis Déjoie, according to the official count; the result was widely considered fraudulent, with the army supporting Duvalier. He took office on 22 October 1957, presenting himself as a quiet, harmless physician whom the army and the elite expected to control. Duvalier swiftly proved otherwise. He purged the army, created his own militia, the Tontons Macoutes, silenced the press and opposition, exiled or killed rivals and cultivated an aura of mystery linked to Vodou. He declared himself president for life in 1964 and passed power to his son in 1971. The Duvalier dictatorship, lasting until 1986, killed tens of thousands of Haitians and drove hundreds of thousands into exile. At this point in the timeline (22 September 1957), the Chairman of the Military Council was Antonio Thrasybule Kébreau (14 June 1957 – 22 October 1957).

## Why it matters
Duvalier's election began the longest and most brutal dictatorship in modern Haitian history.

Ruler at the Time: [Antonio Thrasybule Kébreau](https://allhistories.com/haiti/rulers/antonio-thrasybule-kebreau)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — François Duvalier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_Duvalier)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Francois Duvalier](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Francois+Duvalier)
- [BBC News — Haiti profile: timeline](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19548814)
- [Wikipedia — From Vincent To The Duvaliers (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duvalier_dynasty)