Online Encyclopedia
Juan Bosch
Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño (30 June 1909, La Vega – 1 November 2001, Santo Domingo) was the first democratically elected president of the Dominican Republic after the end of the Trujillo dictatorship in 1961. He also was a well-known writer, mostly producing short stories and tales.
He was opposed to the Rafael Trujillo dictatorial government, and had to leave the country in the late 1930s.
He was elected in December 1962 following the assassination of General Rafael Trujillo, the long-time US-backed dictator, but he was deposed in a military coup seven months later. In 1965 military officers revolted against the junta to try to restore Bosch, whereupon U.S. President Lyndon Johnson sent 20,000 U.S. troops to defeat the revolt. As a rival of Joaquín Balaguer, Bosch remained an important figure in Dominican politics and ran for president on several occasions.