Michel Domingue
Michel Domingue | |
|---|---|
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| 11th President of Haiti | |
| In office June 14, 1874 – April 15, 1876 | |
| Preceded by | Nissage Saget |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal |
| Vice-president of the provisional government of Haiti | |
| In office December 27, 1869 – March 16, 1870 | |
| President | Nissage Saget |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 28, 1813 Les Cayes, Haiti |
| Died | May 24, 1877 (aged 63) Kingston, Jamaica |
| Spouse | Pauline Strattman |
| Profession | Military |
Michel Domingue was the President of Haiti from June 14, 1874 to April 15, 1876.[1]
Biography
Michel Domingue was born in Les Cayes in 1813.[citation needed] He graduated from military training and became commander of army units in Sud.[citation needed]
From May 8, 1868 to December 1869, he was president of the autonomous states of the south of Haiti.[citation needed] On June 11, 1874, General Domingue was elected for a term of eight years as president of Haiti.[1]
Domingue, who was primarily a soldier, had neither the stature nor the tact of a statesman.[1] He therefore issued a decree on September 10, 1874 appointing Septimus Rameau to manage public functions as the Vice-President of the Council of Secretaries of State.[1] Septimus Rameau thus became the true ruler of Haiti.[1] Rameau was dictatorial and domineering by nature, while Michel Domingue was more of a figurehead.[1]
One of Domingue's first acts after his election to the presidency was the signing of an agreement with the Dominican Republic, which the Haitian congress refused to ratify.[1] The agreement established the countries' mutual recognition and in particular an end to the long and bloody border war between them.[1] Septimus Rameau also led negotiations with the President of the Dominican Republic Ignacio María González.[1] The Chief of Staff of President Domingue, General N. Léger, was sent to Santo Domingo to prepare a new agreement.[1] Upon his return to Port-au-Prince on November 9, 1874, he was accompanied by Dominican negotiators to seal a treaty of friendship and an accord on trade and navigation.[1] Haiti recognized and accepted the full independence of the Dominican Republic, and on January 20, 1875 the treaty of friendship was signed between the two countries.[1]
Despite this success in international politics, Haiti's domestic financial situation was devastating.[1] Domingue tried to negotiate a loan with France, which would strain Haitian finances for years.[1] Finally, corruption and fraud were so great that Domingue issued a decree, dated May 15, 1875, for the arrest of Generals Brice, Pierre Monplaisir Pierre, and Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal, his political opponent.[1] Boisrond-Canal criticized this financial policy and the loan.[citation needed] He took refuge at the embassy of the United States.[1] Brice and Pierre Monplaisir Pierre were killed[1] while Boisrond-Canal and other opponents fled abroad.[citation needed] Septimus Rameau was accused of being responsible for the deaths of the two generals, as well as the proposed loan with France.[1] He was himself assassinated on a street in Port-au-Prince.[1]
Domingue resigned on April 15, 1876 and went into exile in Kingston, Jamaica, where he died a year later.[citation needed]
References
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