Hipolito Mejia serviced as President for the Dominican Republic from 2000 to 2004. He only served one term in office, despite running for a second term as the head of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, although he eventually lost to Leonel Fernandez, head of the Dominican Liberation Party. He has continued to work since leaving office and while not known as one of the best presidents of the country’s history, he still plays an influential role.
Life Before Being President
Hipolito Mejia had what many might consider a privileged life in the Dominican Republic. While it is not necessarily the best of the best, he did manage to receive a high-end education, which not all in the country can say. He graduated from Loyola Polytechnic Institute with his high school diploma and then went on to study at North Carolina State University. During the same year, he married Rosa Gomez Arias, who just so happened to be his third cousin.
Shortly after, he became the director and under secretary for the National Tobacco Institute until he took on the role of Minister of Agriculture. He helped pass several different laws to promote rural agriculture and to boost technology development within the Dominican Republic. He did dabble a bit more in politics before becoming the vice president on the Dominican Revolutionary Party ticket in 1992.
Life as President
Hipolito Mejia went on to run for president in 2000 for the same party her served as vice president for. During the first round of voting, he received the highest amount of votes, just under 50 percent (multiple individuals ran for that party) and he received nearly double the votes of the current president. He went on to become president of the country.
During his time as president, he did support the development of helping small businesses and social security while also offering adequate housing for the poor. This helped boost his popularity during the first two years of his presidency. However, midway through the term, the second largest privately owned bank in the country collapsed and caused a chain reaction throughout the country. The bank collapsed due to corruption, and while Hipolito Mejia was never connected, many of the people looked at him as a possible reason behind the issue, so they did not vote him back as president for a second term.
Life After being President
When Hipolito Mejia served as president, he received both the highest rating and lowest rating ever recorded for a president in the Dominican Republic. Much of the animosity from the financial problem has faded, and Hipolito Mejia has continued to work in his political party. He has stayed out of the limelight but has worked behind the scenes in the party for the better part of the last 15 years. Currently, party members are trying to convince him to run for president again and can point out all of the positive benefits the country received prior to the banking collapse. They believe he can win if he was to run for the 2016 presidential election.