Manuel de Jesús María Ulpiano Troncoso de la Concha (3 April 1878 – 30 May 1955) was a Dominican politician and intellectual who was the 38th

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 1940 until 1942. Prior to ascending to the presidency, he was the 23rd

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

under President

Jacinto Peynado Jacinto Bienvenido Peynado Peynado (15 February 1878 – 7 March 1940) was a Dominican politician who served as the 37th president of the Dominican Republic from 1938 until his resignation in 1940. He previously served as the 22nd vice president ...

from 1938 to 1940. Troncoso became president upon the resignation of Peynado. He also served in 1911 during the reign of the Council of Secretaries. He is also known in the Dominican Republic as Pipí. Troncoso assumed the presidency after President Peynado resigned on 24 February 1940, a few weeks before dying on 7 March. Despite being the president, Troncoso had little power due to the fact that at the time, he was a puppet of

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( ; ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (; "the boss"), was a Dominican military officer and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until Rafael Trujillo#Assassination, ...

, the ''de facto'' leader of the country due to his position as

generalissimo ''Generalissimo'' ( ), also generalissimus, is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to field marshal and other five-star ranks in the states where they are used. Usage The word (), an Italian term, is the absolute superlative ...

, the ''de facto''

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

of the country at the time since Trujillo created that position in 1934.

Early life and education

Troncoso was the son of Jesús María Uladislao Troncoso Troncoso (1855–1923), treasurer and sacristan of the Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor, and Baldomera de la Concha Silva (1844–1923). Manuel was educated at the Conciliar Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas, graduating with a Bachelor of Philosophy and Letters degree on November 25, 1895. He also was educated in the law, graduating from Professional Institute on April 3, 1899.

Professional life

Troncoso founded the commercial and civil law firm Oficina Troncoso in 1915 in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. He served as a judge in the First Instance, Court of Appeal, and Land Court. He served on the Supreme Court and as Minister of Justice, Minister of Public Instruction, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Minister of Communications, Minister of the Interior, and Attorney General, and

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 1944 to 1945. He was also founding member of the Dominican Academy of History and chairman of its board from 1944 until 1955. Troncoso was mayor of Santo Domingo as well as president of The National Electoral Board. He was attorney for the

International Court International courts are formed by treaties between Nation, nations, or by an international organization such as the United Nations – and include ''ad hoc'' tribunals and permanent institutions but exclude any courts arising purely under nationa ...

and was a professor and dean of the law school and principal of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. He served as vice-president of the Republic from 1938 until 1940. After serving as president, Troncoso became

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

from 1943 to 1955. He was coroner of the Judicial District of Santo Domingo from 1911 until the time of his death. As an author, Troncoso published ''Elementos de Derecho Administrativo'' (lit. "Elements of Administrative Law"), ''Narraciones Dominicanas'' (lit. "Dominican Narratives"), ''La Ocupación de Santo Domingo por Haití'' (lit. "The Occupation of Santo Domingo by Haiti"), ''El Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez'' (lit. "Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez"), and ''Génesis de la Convención Dominico-Americana'' (lit. "Genesis of the Dominican-American Convention"). He was editor-in-chief of Listín Diario from 1899 to 1911.

Vice presidency (1938–1940)

Bz 1938, Trujillo has served two terms as president, but then the

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allowed him to run for a third term due to the fact that there were no

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

at the time. However, being inspired by the US example of two presidential terms despite the 22nd amendment was not yet made into law, thus, Trujillo declined to run for a third term. Consequently, the Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's

and handpicked successor,

to be the presidential candidate and Troncoso as the vice presidential candidate in the

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

held on 16 May. The Peynado-Troncoso ticket unanimously won the election due to the fact that the country was a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

at the time. On 16 August, Peynado was officially sworn in as president with Troncoso as the vice president. However, Trujillo still retained his role as Generalissimo of the Army and the leader of the Dominican Party thus remained the ''de facto'' leader of the country and still held the real power.

Presidency (1940–1942)

In accordance to the constitution, as the vice president at the time, Troncoso became president on 24 February 1940 on the resignation of President Peynado due to poor health despite Rafael Trujillo holding the real power because of his role as generalissimo. A few weeks later, Peynado died on 7 March. Troncoso and Trujillo attended the funereal with other government officials. However, several sources claimed that Peynado remained president till his death and did not resign on 24 February. On 16 May,

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 ...

were held where Trujillo ran, taking inspiration from US President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, who ran for a third term two years earlier. Trujillo unanimously won and was sworn in as president for the third time on 16 August. On 17 May 1942, the following day after the election, Troncoso appointed Trujillo as the new

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

and

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

, using the previous resignation of Héctor Trujillo as a legal basis.Galíndez, Jesús de. 1973. The era of Trujillo: Dominican dictator. Tucson: the University of Arizona Press.

Private life

Troncoso married to Silvia Alicia Sánchez Abreu (1882–?), who became the first Dominican electress to ballot her vote on 16 May 1942 after women's suffrage was approved earlier that year. Troncoso and Sánchez had 6 children: Jesús María (1902–1982), who married María Ramírez García and had 1 child, Manuel Troncoso Ramírez (1927–2012); Pedro (1904–1989), who married Olga Hilda Lopez-Penha Alfau and had 2 children; Isabel Genoveva (1906–1991), who married Marino Emilio Cáceres Ureña and had 3 children including Ramón Cáceres Troncoso (b. 1930); Wenceslao (1907–2008), who married Rosa Mercedes Barrera Vega and had 4 children; and Altagracia (1915–1989), who married Eduardo Morales Avelino and had 5 children including Carlos Morales Troncoso (1940–2014). His sons Jesús María and Wenceslao were, respectively, the first and second governor 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 addition, both of them and their brother Pedro were all prominent lawyers and jurists in the Dominican Republic. Wenceslao was deputy, senator, and ambassador, as well, while Pedro was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1946–1949).

Ancestry

References