Only democratically elected president to finish two terms was 74
northern Haiti. His father, Claude, was an agronomist who served under President Paul Magloire and fled during the early years of the dictatorship of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
Preval earned an agronomy degree from Gembloux Agricultural University in Belgium and later studied geothermal sciences at the University of Pisa in Italy. In 1970, he moved to New York, where he worked as a waiter and a messenger.
In 1988, two years after a popular uprising ousted Duvalier’s son, JeanClaude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, Preval returned to Haiti and opened a bakery in Port-au-Prince.
Aristide, by now no longer a priest, was elected president in 1990 and appointed Preval to be his prime minister. A military coup ousted Aristide seven months into his term, and the two leaders went into exile.
A U.S.-led invasion restored Aristide in 1994, and he was allowed to serve the year-plus remaining in his term. Running as Aristide’s successor, Preval won 88 percent of the vote in 1995, though only a quarter of eligible voters cast ballots.
When Preval completed his term in 2001 and transferred power to Aristide, he became Haiti’s first democratically elected president to leave office after a full term.
Preval spent his time in Marmelade during Aristide’s second term, which ended when he was forced to flee the country in 2004. Preval won a second term in 2006. Preval’s second term was marked by a dramatic spike in kidnappings, gang warfare, riots over soaring global food prices and a series of tropical storms.
Still, Haiti enjoyed a rare political stability. The economy started improving.
But the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake destroyed much of the capital.
There was widespread public anger at Preval, who was blamed for much of the chaos engulfing the capital.
On May 14, 2011, Preval handed over power to Martelly, marking the first transfer of power from a Haitian president to a member of the opposition.
His survivors include his third wife, Elisabeth Delatour, and two adult daughters.