The memory of his presidency remains very prominent among many Haitians due to the reforms undertaken and the undeniable economic and social progress that the Republic of Haiti experienced during this era.

It is important to also remember the laws passed and the investments made for the development of rural areas, the construction of many schools and the modernisation of the whole education system, as well as the protection of workers’ rights through the Labor Code and ultimately the creation of proper conditions for economic growth, mostly in tourism and small industry sectors.

In May 1950, a coup d’état organized by a military junta overthrew the government of Estimé and placed its leader, Paul Magloire, as head of the country, where he would be elected to the presidency in October 1950.

Estilus attempted to make Dumarsais aware of the Haitian social reality of the time and convinced him of the need for greater integrity in public affairs.

Estilus Estimé sent the young Dumarsais to the friars of Saint-Louis de Gonzague in St Marc; he then attended Collège Pinchinat and went to Lycée Alexandre-Pétion in Port-au-Prince until his baccalaureate.

Dumarsais was dismissed from his position after publicly expressing his opposition to the government of President Louis Borno and the then ongoing United States occupation of Haiti.

Dumarsais was described as a scholar (passionate about French literature and philosophy) with a fierce desire to liberate Haiti from foreign influence and change Haitian society.

The aim of Dumarsais was a system of education equal to the level of foreign universities which were then offering scholarships for studies abroad to young Haitian men and women.

It also established a presidential system under which the President of the Republic, elected for six years, was endowed with a field of competence ranging from the definition of major political orientations to the control of government actions, diplomacy and the army.

The Constitution of 1946, unlike that of 1935, did not grant the executive power a hand on Legislature, the Judiciary, nor the title of Chief of the Armed Forces for the acting President of the Republic of Haiti.

In a radio speech on March 25, 1947 (which has gone down in history under the title ‘happy miscounts’), President Estimé called on the Haitian people to help unblock the situation and contribute to the payment of the debt.

Estimé asked the UN Secretary-General to send a technical mission to assess the general situation of the country and make recommendations in the areas of economics and finance, education, health and culture.

The increase in exports and the prices of agricultural raw materials during this post-war period, notably coffee, sisal and bananas, helped to improve the country’s financial situation.

This project was to use the waters of the Artibonite River for methodical agricultural development based on the modern techniques of this region (in particular, rice fields) and the improvement of living for local populations.

Among the many projects implemented were irrigation and drainage works in the rich valley of the Estère River and others (Los Pozos, Blue Lagoon, Limbé plain, etc.

While resolutely encouraging private investment to develop the Haitian economy and employment, Estimé attached the utmost importance to a modern and fair labour policy.

This International Exhibition was to promote the rebirth and strengthening of ties between peoples and to stimulate the resumption and development of economic relations between countries, especially since it would be located in "a place in America considered as one of the most important crossroads on the major maritime and air routes on the Atlantic".

The International Exhibition was to have an area of 30 hectares and cover most of the capital’s waterfront by cleaning up this swampy and slum-occupied part of the coast (les Palmistes, Nan Pisquette, Wharf-aux-Herbes) and gaining land on the sea, thanks to the most modern techniques of the time and the collaboration of Haitian, American and Belgian engineers.

In his inaugural speech of December 8 President Estimé declared: ‘I greet with the deepest sympathy the representatives of these friendly nations, as well as the delegations that have specially come to take part in this feast of peace, and publicly ask them to trust the recognition from the Haitian government and people…’ He further underlined: ‘Although it (the Exhibition) is one of the first stones of a new Haiti, the representation in clear lines and happy images of what we want to do with this country…’ and also added that: ‘It is the work of patience and the skill of hundreds of intellectual and manual workers, both foreigners and Haitians, to whom it is necessary to pay a fair homage, and of the enthusiastic multitudes who animate and support it with their understanding and their passion…’ Foreign firms also participated in the International Exhibition of 1949 in Port-au-Prince.

The fight against illiteracy, known under the name ‘Program Dumarsais Estimé’, highlighted the presidential desire to educate the urban and rural masses to make them instruments of national development.

By May 1949, the number of teachers assigned to rural education had reached 823, an increase of 34% which clearly reflected ‘the special attention to proletarian and peasant youth’ according to the outline of the presidential speech of August 16, 1946.

In 1947, the executive passed the law of July 24, authorising the creation of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, a public utility institution dedicated to the intellectual training of secondary school teachers.

Less than two months later, the government of the Republic created the Ecole Polytechnique d’Haiti, a higher education institution dedicated to the training of engineers and architects, deemed essential for the construction and renovation of national structures.

A contract favourable to the exploitation of bauxite was signed on November 12, 1946, between representatives of the Haitian government and those of the Reynolds Refining Corp, an American mining company.

As a testament to the interest shown in Haitian-Dominican relations, the government of Estimé raised the Haitian diplomatic representation in the Dominican Republic to the rank of an embassy (law of April 25, 1947).

On the instructions of President Estimé, Emile St.-Lot, at the time permanent representative of the Republic of Haiti to the UN, voted in favour of the creation of the State of Israel on November 29, 1947.

The opposition understood that the real purpose of the draft amendment was to extend the term of office of the head of state, contrary to the provisions of the 1946 Constitution, which stipulated that the president ‘could not under any circumstances benefit from extension of the mandate’.

In his message to the people that same evening, the president did not explicitly disavow the demonstrators: ‘Your eloquent attitude this morning […] testifies to your political maturity and your direct participation in your affairs.

Two days later, on May 10, it made a declaration signed by General Franck Lavaud and Colonels Antoine Levelt and Paul-Eugène Magloire: ‘The President of the Republic has lost control of events […].

On their arrival at the port of Kingston, the Jamaican Immigration Service forbid them to put foot on land, at the request of the Haitian government chaired since October 1950 by Paul Magloire, on the pretext that the ex-president could cause troubles in Jamaica.