<P> The period between the fall of Magloire and the election of Duvalier in September 1957 was a chaotic one, even by Haitian standards . Three provisional presidents held office during this interval; one resigned and the army deposed the other two, Franck Sylvain and Fignolé . Duvalier is said to have engaged actively in the behind - the - scenes intrigue that helped him to emerge as the presidential candidate that the military favored . The military went on to guide the campaign and the elections in a way that gave Duvalier every possible advantage . Most political actors perceived Duvalier--a medical doctor who had served as a rural administrator of a United States - funded anti-yaws campaign before entering the cabinet under Estimé--as an honest and fairly unassuming leader without a strong ideological motivation or program . When elections were finally organized, this time under terms of universal suffrage (both men and women now had the vote), Duvalier, a black, painted himself as the legitimate heir to Estimé . This approach was enhanced by the fact that Duvalier's only viable opponent, Louis Déjoie, was a mulatto and the scion of a prominent family . Duvalier scored a decisive victory at the polls . His followers took two - thirds of the legislature's lower house and all of the seats in the Senate . </P> <P> A former Minister of Health who had earned a reputation as a humanitarian while serving as an administrator in a U.S. - funded anti-yaws campaign, François Duvalier (known as "Papa Doc") soon established another dictatorship . His regime is regarded as one of the most repressive and corrupt of modern times, combining violence against political opponents with exploitation of Vodou to instill fear in the majority of the population . Duvalier's paramilitary police, officially the Volunteers for National Security (Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale--VSN) but more commonly known as the Tonton Macoutes, named for a Vodou monster, carried out political murders, beatings, and intimidation . An estimated 30,000 Haitians were killed by his government . Duvalier employed rape as a political tool to silence political opposition . Incorporating many houngans into the ranks of the Macoutes, his public recognition of Vodou and its practitioners and his private adherence to Vodou ritual, combined with his reputed private knowledge of magic and sorcery, enhanced his popular persona among the common people and served as a peculiar form of legitimization . </P> <P> Duvalier's policies, designed to end the dominance of the mulatto elite over the nation's economic and political life, led to massive emigration of educated people, deepening Haiti's economic and social problems . However, Duvalier appealed to the black middle class of which he was a member by introducing public works into middle - class neighborhoods that previously had been unable to have paved roads, running water, or modern sewage systems . In 1964, Duvalier proclaimed himself "President for Life". </P> <P> The Kennedy administration suspended aid in 1961, after allegations that Duvalier had pocketed aid money and intended to use a Marine Corps mission to strengthen the Macoutes . Duvalier also clashed with Dominican President Juan Bosch in 1963, after Bosch provided aid and asylum to Haitian exiles working to overthrow his regime . He ordered the Presidential Guard to occupy the Dominican chancery in Pétion - Ville to apprehend an officer involved in a plot to kidnap his children, leading Bosch to publicly threaten to invade Haiti . However, the Dominican army, which distrusted Bosch's leftist leanings, expressed little support for an invasion, and the dispute was settled by OAS emissaries . </P>

Even though haiti was still a french colony by 1798