Background
Paul Magloire was born on 19 July 1907 in Cap-haïtien to a black elite family.
Paul Magloire was born on 19 July 1907 in Cap-haïtien to a black elite family.
Attended primary schools there, and graduated from Lycee Philippe Guerrier. He taught at his alma mater for a year and then enrolled in Haiti’s military academy, graduating in 1931. Later, he took a law degree from the national university.
After graduation from military school, Magloire served as aide-de-camp to President Sténio Vincent, adjutant to several regional military commanders, governor of the national prison, and commandant of the Palace Guard. When, in January 1946, opposition to the oppressive and corrupt regime of President Elie Lescot mounted. Magloire joined with two mulatto military leaders to depose the president. He was instrumental in securing the election of President Dumarsais Estimé, the representative of black intellectuals and other black elites. Magloire was named minister of interior, after which he returned to his position as commander of the Palace Guards.
In 1950, when Estimé sought to remain in office in defiance of the existing constitution, Magloire joined a military coup. The Executive Military Committee, of which Magloire was part, then dismissed Parliament and. in a revised constitution, for the first time provided for the president to be elected by universal male franchise. Magloire was overwhelmingly elected president in December 1950, with the backing of the military, the Roman Catholic Church, and the United States.
Magloire was soon faced with intense opposition. A student insurrection spread to strikes by unions. In November 1956 Magloire banned all public meetings and political broadcasts and publications; he finally declared a state of siege and dissolved the legislature. At the time, he decided to leave Haiti for Jamaica, but he ultimately settled in New York.
Magloire failed to pursue policies of reform implemented in the early years of his predecessor. He concentrated on economic development, negotiating an agreement with the United States for assistance in soil conservation, cattle farming, drainage, and irrigation; and formulated a five-year plan which would be financed by foreign aid, concentrating on improvement of transportation and port facilities. His regime saw the opening of bauxite mines by Reynolds Metals, as well as development of a tourist industry and attraction of foreign investment.
In 1954, however, the coffee crop began to fail, and in October a vicious hurricane destroyed crops and property. At the same time, government projects were proving more costly than anticipated, and there was growing evidence of corruption among members of Magloire’s family and some charges of politically motivated killings. A dispute arose over the date when the president’s term legally ended, with Magloire insisting on May 1957 and members of the growing opposition claiming May 1956.
