1914, November 6–10: (Un Maître Étranger?

1914, November 6–10: (Un Maître Étranger? Théodore Arrives by Train and the Spoils Turn to Ashes): As Davilmar Théodore’s locomotive chuffed in from St. Marc on the afternoon of November 6, the bells of Port-au-Prince rang and the old three-inch muzzle-loaders at Fort National thumped out salutes — yet how little there was to celebrate. At age sixty-seven, the bullet-headed old Caco had, to be sure, finally reached the Palais National. Elected unanimously by the National Assembly on November 7, he was inaugurated on the 10th, but with the presidency his problems had only begun. In haste to reap the spoils of victory, Théodore’s Cacos had swarmed south, leaving behind large unsubdued pockets of Zamorists throughout the North and Center in old strongholds such as Hinche, Maïssade, Pignon, Ranquitte, and Vallière. Foreign recognition was conspicuously lacking, especially by the United States, which had been on the verge of intervening to save the Zamors when their regime collapsed too soon for Marines to arrive. Other major powers, now thoroughly preoccupied with the World War, were likewise in no hurry over Haiti. But Théodore’s central problem was no different from what had brought down the Zamors — as Livingston succinctly explained, Théodore’s followers flocked to Port-au-Prince expecting to reap the rewards of ten months’ struggle and hardships, the president found himself unable to satisfy their demands, and as the revolution was made for money and nothing but money, his ignorant followers became much incensed, refusing to believe that the head of a government was unable to find the means of meeting obligations toward those who had put him in power — his failure to supply these demands was attributed to cupidity and lack of good faith, and he immediately became the most unpopular man in Haiti.