Pre-Independent Period
➢ Toussaint Louverture (1801-1802)*
Independent Period
- Jean-Jacques Dessalines (January 1804 – October 1806)
- Henri Christophe (December 1806 – October 1820)**
- Alexandre Pétion (March 1807 – March 1818)***
- Jean Pierre Boyer (March 1818 – March 1843)
- Charles Rivière Hérard (December 1843 – May 1844)
- Philippe Guerrier (May 1844 – April 1845)
- Louis Pierrot (April 1845 – March 1846)
- Jean-Baptiste Riché (March 1846 – February 1847)
- Faustin Soulouque (March 1947 – January 1859)
- Fabre Geffrard (January 1859 – March 1867)
- Sylvain Salnave (June 1867 – December 1869)
- Nissage Saget (March 1870 – May 1874)
- Michel Domingue (June 1874 – April 1876)
- Pierre Théoma Boisrond Canal (July 1876 – July 1879)
- Lysius Salomon (October 1879 – August 1888)
- François Denys Légitime (December 1888 – August 1889)
- Florvil Hyppolite (October 1889 – March 1896)
- Tiresias Simon Sam (March 1896 – May 1902)
- Nord Alexis (May 1902 – December 1908)
- Antoine Simon (December 1908 – August 1911)
- Cincinnatus Leconte (August 1911 – August 1912)
- Tancrède Auguste (August 1912 – May 1913)
- Michel Oreste (May 1913 – January 1914)
- Oreste Zamor (February 1914 – October 1914)
- Davilmar Théodore (November 1914 – February 1915)
- Vilbrun Guillaume Sam (March 1915 – July 1915)
- Sudre Dartiguenave (August 1915 – May 1922)
- Louis Borno (May 1922 – May 1930)
- Louis Eugène Roy (May 1930 – November 1930)
- Sténio Vincent (November 1930 – May 1941)
- Elie Lescot (May 1941 – January 1946)
- Jean Dumarsais Estimé (August 1946 – May 1950)
- Paul Eugène Magloire (December 1950 – December 1956)
- Nemours Pierre-Louis (December 1956 – February 1957)
- Franck Sylvain (February 1957 – April 1957)
- Daniel Fignolé (May 1957 – June 1957)
- François Duvalier (September 1957 – April 1971)
- Jean-Claude Duvalier (April 1971 – February 1986)
- Leslie F. Manigat (February 1988 – June 1988)
- Henri Namphy (June 1988 – September 1988)
- Prosper Avril (September 1988 – March 1990)
- Ertha Pascal-Trouillot (March 1990 – February 1991)
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide (February 1991 – September 1991 / October 1994 – February 1996)****
- Raoul Cédras? (1991 – 1994)*****
- René Gracia Préval (February 1996 – February 2001)
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide (February 2001 – February 2004)
- Boniface Alexandre (February 2004 – May 2006)
- René Gracia Préval (May 2006 – May 2011)
- Joseph Michel Martelly (May 2011 – February 2016)
- Jovenel Moïse (February 2017 – 2021)******
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NOTES:
* Although Saint-Domingue was still a French colony in 1801, by this point, Toussaint Louverture had asserted authority over most of the island and ruled with minimal interference from France until 1802.
** Frictions between rival elites led the country to divide. Henri Christophe ruled the North (establishing a kingdom in 1811), while Alexandre Pétion became president of the South and West. Their terms overlapped during this period.
*** Jean-Pierre Boyer succeeded Pétion in 1818, reunited Haiti after Christophe’s death in 1820, and later annexed the Dominican Republic, ruling over the entire island until 1843.
**** In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a coup. Three years later, he resumed his presidency with the backing of the United States.
***** Raoul Cédras’s presidency (1991–1994) overlapped with those of Joseph Nérette (October 1991–June 1992) and Émile Jonassaint (May–October 1994). This period was marked by a lack of clear, coherent authority.
***** Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021, plunging the country into a renewed period of political instability.
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REFERENCES:
Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. Haiti: state against nation : the origins and legacy of Duvalierism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1989.
Haïti Culture. “Les présidents de la République d’Haïti.” Accessed March 15, 2014. http://www.haiticulture.ch/haiti_presidents_liste.html.
Haïti Mémoire et Culture. “Chefs d’Etat d’Haïti.” Accessed March 15, 2014. http://haitimemo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=14&Itemid=78&lang=fr.