1818, March–April: (The Succession of Boyer and the Maneuvers for Power): In his final decline, Pétion failed to nominate a successor, and his body was hardl…

1818, March–April: (The Succession of Boyer and the Maneuvers for Power): In his final decline, Pétion failed to nominate a successor, and his body was hardly cold before the start of maneuvers to replace him. Borgella of Les Cayes, popular and respected, probably represented the true favorite of the Senate. But Boyer, Pétion’s secretary and commander of the Presidential Guard, held the Palais National, and when the Senate wavered, Gédéon, the colonel turned general who had betrayed Dessalines at Pont-Rouge, threw his ample bulk and local regiments into the scale and declared Boyer president for life, a verdict the Senate hastened to confirm unanimously. Choute Lachenais, with whom Boyer had discreetly consummated certain arrangements as Pétion ebbed, never even vacated her apartments in the palace. The transfer of power from Pétion to Boyer thus did not follow constitutional process. It was accomplished through the physical control of the capital, the loyalty of the Presidential Guard, and the timely intervention of a man whose career had been built on well-timed betrayals.