Open the pool of candidates
Great in Domincan terms, or truly great, as in world history terms. Truly great Dominican presidents: none. Most were desposts or incompetent. Or both (Santana, Buenaventura B?ez, Lil?s). Whether we like it or not, Balaguer and Trujillo et. al are "ni?os de teta" (or minor leaguers), in the Panteon of global leaders and/or historical figures. Simple footnotes in the history of world civilization. If we keep the candidates to islanders, then Toussaint Louverture, a worldwide historical figure by accomplishing the unprecendented expulsion of European masters from their colony in St. Domingue and who during a brief incursion into Spanish Santo Domingo abolished slavery in the whole island (1801; well before the American Civil War). Yes, he was a transplanted African, however is a revered figure in military history who defeated Napoleonic forces, held the Brits and the Spanish at bay and planted the seeds of revolution against opression all over the world. Haiti ended up being a huge failure, but for a little while this black man commanded the attention of more than one European court. In the DR we are taught to hate this Haitian fellow as a brutal savage but his legacy is truly great and universal. Another individual that may merit some recognition -if Italians are allowed- would be Cristopher Columbus, a terrible head of the colony, but forever the pioneer of the Old World-New World encounter, with all of its consequences. The most democratic, if not the most civilized Dominican governments were those of the Ta?no chiefdoms.
-Tordok