Editing Rafael Trujillo (section)

==Personality cult==
[[File:Bandera del Generalisimo Trujillo.svg|240px|thumb|right|[[Heraldic flag]] used by Trujillo as Generalissimo of the Armies]]
In 1936, at the suggestion of [[Mario Fermín Cabral y Báez|Mario Fermín Cabral]], the [[Congress of the Dominican Republic]] voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the capital from [[Santo Domingo]] to [[Ciudad Trujillo]]. The province of [[San Cristóbal Province|San Cristóbal]] was renamed to "Trujillo" and the nation's highest peak, [[Pico Duarte]], to Pico Trujillo. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the Dominican Republic, and bridges and public buildings were named in his honor. The nation's newspapers had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included slogans such as "¡Viva Trujillo!" and "Año del Benefactor de la Patria" (Year of the Benefactor of the Nation). An electric sign was erected in Ciudad Trujillo so that "Dios y Trujillo" could be seen at night as well as in the day. Eventually, even churches were required to post the slogan "Dios en el cielo, Trujillo en la tierra" (God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth). As time went on, the order of the phrases was reversed (Trujillo on Earth, God in Heaven). Trujillo was recommended for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion.{{sfnp|Roorda|1998|p=120}}
[[File:Era de Trujillo sign.jpg|thumb|left|Trujillo era sign, which reads in Spanish: "In this household, Trujillo is a national symbol"]]

Trujillo was eligible to run again in 1938, but, citing the US example of two presidential terms, he stated, "I voluntarily, and against the wishes of my people, refuse re-election to the high office."<ref name="Block p. 672">{{harvp|Block|1941|p=672}}</ref> In fact, a vigorous re-election campaign had been launched in the middle of 1937 but the international uproar that followed the [[Parsley Massacre|Haitian massacre]] later that year forced Trujillo to announce his "return to private life."<ref>{{harvp|de Galindez|1962|p=306}}</ref> Consequently, the Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's handpicked successor, 61-year-old vice-president [[Jacinto Peynado]], with [[Manuel de Jesús Troncoso de la Concha|Manuel de Jesús Troncoso]] his running mate. They appeared alone on the ballot in the 1938 election. Trujillo kept his positions as generalissimo of the army and leader of the Dominican Party. It was understood that Peynado was merely a puppet, and Trujillo still held all governing power in the nation. Peynado increased the size of the electric "Dios y Trujillo" sign and died on 7 March 1940, with Troncoso serving out the rest of the term. However, in 1942, with US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt]] having run for a third term in the US, Trujillo ran for president again and was elected unopposed. He served for two terms, which he lengthened to five years each. In 1952, under pressure from the [[Organization of American States]], he ceded the presidency to his brother, [[Héctor Trujillo|Héctor]]. Despite being officially out of power, Rafael Trujillo organized a major national celebration to commemorate 25 years of his rule in 1955. Gold and silver commemorative coins were minted with his image.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Derby |first=Lauren Hutchinson |title=The dictator's seduction: politics and the popular imagination in the era of Trujillo |date=2009 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-4486-5 |series=American encounters, global interactions |location=Durham, North Carolina |pages=222 |language=English}}</ref>