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1867-05-04

1867-05-04: (Sylvain Salnave Becomes President, Promising Constitutional Governance and a Four-Year Term, a Promise He Would Break Within Six Months by Suspe…

Haitian

1867-05-04: (Sylvain Salnave Becomes President, Promising Constitutional Governance and a Four-Year Term, a Promise He Would Break Within Six Months by Suspending the Constitution and Assuming Dictatorial Powers): On May 4, 1867, Sylvain Salnave became president of Haiti. Born on February 7, 1826, in Cap-Haïtien to a white father and a Black mother, Salnave had been the leader of the insurrection that drove Geffrard from power. In June 1867, with Salnave’s support, the National Assembly promulgated a new constitution that abolished the position of president for life, the first time since independence that Haiti formally committed to limited executive tenure. Salnave promised to serve only four years. By October 1867, he had begun using despotic powers to suppress opposition in the National Assembly. By April 1868, he had suspended the constitution and assumed dictatorial powers. The gap between the promise and the performance was six months. It was the shortest distance between democratic aspiration and authoritarian reality in Haitian history to that point, though it would not remain the shortest for long.