22 October 1957 · Haitian
Duvalier picks the twenty second and sits in the chair Soulouque feared
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Francois Duvalier chose 22 October 1957 for his inauguration because the number twenty two carried power in his divinations. He took the sash in the Salle des Bustes with General Kebreau and the president of the senate beside him, then drove to the cathedral. Back at the palace he sat without hesitation in the presidential chair that had frightened Soulouque a century earlier, and announced that his government would guarantee liberty to all Haitians and reconcile the nation with itself. He told his first press conference that he had no enemies except the enemies of the nation. A new constitution set his term to end in May 1963. An amnesty released Duvalierists and somehow missed the supporters of Dejoie. Magloire's remaining property was seized. A New York public relations firm headed by John Roosevelt was retained on 150,000 dollars. Concessions went on sale, a four million dollar loan came from Batista with a million returned in kickbacks, the casino ended in the hands of the Mafia, and Trujillo agreed to buy Haitian cane cutters by the head.
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