Héctor Rafael García-Godoy Cáceres (11 January 1921 – 20 April 1970) was a Dominican politician who served as the 44th

president of the Dominican Republic The president of the Dominican Republic () is both the head of state and head of government of the Dominican Republic. The presidential system was established in 1844, following the proclamation of the republic during the Dominican War of In ...

from 1965 to 1966. He led the transitional government which ruled the country following the

Dominican Civil War The Dominican Civil War (), also known as the April Revolution (), took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of the overthrown democraticall ...

and organized

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

held the following year. Former president Joaquín Balaguer won the election and succeeded García-Godoy which marked the beginning of Balaguer's 12 year rule, simply known as "The Twelve Years". García-Godoy was the grandson of the Cuban-born Dominican poet Federico García Godoy and President Ramón Cáceres. He was also the cousin of the Dominican painter Darío Suro.

Service

After serving as a diplomat in the mid-1940s, García-Godoy was employed at the Foreign Ministry and served on the board of directors of the Reserve Bank. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the

Central Bank of the Dominican Republic The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (, BCRD) was established by the Monetary and Banking Law of 1947 as the central bank of the Dominican Republic, responsible for regulating the country's monetary and banking system. The Bank's headquart ...

in 1955. In 1963, he served as foreign minister under Juan Bosch, whose government was overthrown later that year. Afterward he temporarily acted as president and organized the 1966 elections in which Joaquín Balaguer regained the presidency. Balaguer subsequently appointed him as ambassador to the United States in 1966, serving until 1969.

References

Biography
at the ''Enciclopedia Virtual Dominicana'' 1921 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Dominican Republic politicians People from Espaillat Province People from Moca, Dominican Republic Dominican Republic people of Cuban descent Dominican Republic people of English descent Dominican Republic people of Galician descent Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent Ambassadors of the Dominican Republic to the United States Presidents of the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic expatriates in the United States White Dominicans {{DominicanRepublic-politician-stub