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François "Papa Doc" Duvalier Biography

Political Leader / President of Haiti

François Duvalier was the notorious ruler of Haiti throughout the 1960s. Duvalier was a physician (the source of his nickname, "Papa Doc") who worked in the Haitian government beginning in the mid-1940s. With the army's support, he was elected to the presidency in 1957. In 1964 he declared himself president for life and indeed, stayed president until his death in 1971, when his son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, succeeded him. Papa Doc was an expert in voodoo who ruled Haiti with brute force and terror, with a ruthless security force, the Tontons Macoutes, acting as real-life bogeymen who routinely executed his opponents.

Other Caribbean political figures include Haiti's Jean-Bertrande Aristide, Jamaica's Marcus Garvey and Cuba's Fidel Castro.