Editing Joaquín Balaguer (section)

=="The Twelve Years" (1966–1978)==
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| image1       = Toma de posesión de D. Joaquín Balaguer en 1966 (1) (cropped).jpg
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| footer       = Balaguer speaking during his inauguration in 1966 (left) and in 1976 (right)
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After taking office on 1 July, Balaguer found a nation severely beaten by decades of turbulence, with few short times of peace, and virtually ignorant of democracy and human rights. He sought to pacify the enmities surviving from the Trujillo regime and from the [[Dominican Civil War|1965 civil war]], but political murders continued to be frequent during his administration. He succeeded in partially rehabilitating the public finances, which were in a chaotic state, and pushed through a modest program of economic development.  He was easily reelected in 1970 against fragmented opposition and won again in 1974 after changing the voting rules in a way that led the opposition to boycott the race.

During his years as president (known popularly in Dominican politics as simply "the twelve years"), Balaguer ordered the construction of schools, hospitals, dams, roads, and many important buildings. He also presided over steady economic growth, funded public housing, opened public schools, and expanded education during his term. Additionally, over 300 politicians became millionaires during his presidency.<ref name=Escalante>Escalante, F., & Muñiz, M. (1995). The secret war: CIA covert operations against Cuba, 1959-62. Melbourne: Ocean Press.</ref>  However, his administration soon developed a distinct [[authoritarianism|authoritarian]] cast, constitutional guarantees notwithstanding. Political opponents were jailed and sometimes killed<ref name=Buckman/> (by one estimate, 3,000 people with center-left leanings were murdered<ref name=Escalante/>), and opposition newspapers were occasionally seized. Despite his authoritarian methods, Balaguer had far less power than Trujillo, and his rule was considerably milder.