Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2018 | Page 23

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
reign. This is something that was further reinforced by Haiti’s checkered past with
frequent government overturn and corruption. Refusing to accept the coup, Duvalier
temporarily set aside politics in favor of continuing his medical practice
(Diederich and Burt 1969; Perper and Cina 2010). The lasting impact the Army
had on the political environment in Haiti was not lost on Duvalier and was reflected
in the development of the Tonton Macoute, Duvalier’s armed militia which had
the power to do Duvalier’s bidding, but not be powerful or organized enough to
overthrow him.
While working with the Service Coopératif Inter-Américain de la Santé
Publique (Co-operative Inter-American Service, abbreviated as SCISP) as part of
the U.S. Health Commission in Haiti, Duvalier began formulating his political
plans. In the SCISP offices, he engaged with other Estimists to establish himself
as heir to the presidency (Smith 2009). During this time of political plotting, the
military persecuted Duvalier for his opposition. He went into hiding in the countryside
among his trusted peasantry base, where he continued to practice medicine
and further develop his network among the rural Haitian people (Diederich
and Burt 1969; Perper and Cina 2010). Abbott (1988) describes Duvalier’s time in
hiding as a key turning point. He “shed his past as a dedicated country doctor and
engaged scholar to become a politician obsessed with greatness, history, and power”
(Abbott 1988, 61). His friends claimed he focused his interests on Machiavelli’s
The Prince and took on a “total lack of loyalty, universal mistrust of individuals,
an ability to lie and break promises with stone-faced regularity, and a penetrating
ability to identify an individual’s Achilles’ heel” (Abbott 1988, 61). This account
echoes descriptions of Duvalier and his lack of trust for others during his earlier
years. However, compounded by his political desires to become president, his
paranoia would further increase as he recognized his own current persecution,
and the past faced by other Haitian political leaders. As his troubles with the Army
worsened, Duvalier’s paranoia became more pronounced, and he began to hide
firearms on his person, under beds and pillows, and in desks. During this time of
increased personal stress, Duvalier turned toward spirituality. Katherine Dunham,
an acquaintance of Duvalier, “felt he plunged into (spirituality) with an intensity
that bordered and perhaps trespassed on the pathological” (Abbott 1988, 61). This
spiritual immersion would later serve Duvalier well as he would come to take on a
cult of personality and make himself feared in the image of Baron Samedi, Voodoo
god of the dead.
Papa Doc: President-For-Life and Genesis of the Reign of Terror
In September 1956, Duvalier announced his candidacy for president. He campaigned
under the banner of Populism, seeking to improve the condition of
the masses. “He regarded his campaign as a ‘crusade’ inspired by ‘a dynamic
ideology’ ... He emphasized the importance of ‘leadership’ and referred to the in-
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