Haiti Strongman: the Life and Times of Jean Pierre Boyer

Ambitious, methodical, and hypnotic, Jean Pierre Boyer ascended rapidly through the Haitian military hierarchy, rising from captain to colonel to brigadier general without ever having distinguished himself on a battlefield. He held the strategic posts of personal secretary to the president, head of the presidential palace guard, and commander of the capital, all at one time. As president, he masterfully consolidated an entire island of freemen amidst a sea of slave colonies and never wavered in his campaign to realize Haiti’s international recognition as a sovereign nation. During Boyer’s quarter of a century as chief executive, statecraft, diplomacy, and fiscal discipline were his contributions to Haitian society. However, authoritative and resistant to change, he did not see the revolution to unseat him coming; nor, despite reports of eight thousand armed citizens and defected military heading towards the capital, Port-au-Prince, did he believe that it would succeed. This is the first biography ever written, in any language, of Jean Pierre Boyer. Read more