Sténio Vincent

Sténio Joseph Vincent (1874-1959) was President of Haiti from November 18, 1930 to May 15, 1941. A former mayor of the capital Port-au-Prince, he ran a popular campaign for the presidency by focusing on his opposition to the American occupation of the island. Upon assuming power, however, he adopted a dictatorial stance, culminating in a major conflict with Haiti's Senate in 1935. His popularity waned further when, in 1937 he failed to respond to the massacre of 15,000 Haitian guest workers in the Dominican Republic, order by that country's president Rafael Trujillo. Vincent stepped down in 1941 and was succeeded by Élie Lescot.