Jean-Claude Duvalier inherited the presidency for life from his father, François Duvalier, who passed away on April 21, 1971. Jean-Claude Duvalier took the oath the following day, April 22, at the age of 19, before the dean of the civil court of Port-au-Prince. An article in Le Nouvelliste recounted the various steps leading to the swearing-in of the successor to President for Life François Duvalier. "This morning, the new Secretary of State for Interior, National Defense, and General Police, Mr. Luckner Cambronne, announced to the nation, in a statement issued at 6:30 a.m., the sad news of the death of H.E. President François Duvalier. National mourning was declared for a period of 30 days throughout the national territory. [...] This statement specified that Dr. François Duvalier breathed his last on Wednesday, April 21, at 8 p.m. At 1 a.m., the designated successor, Mr. Jean-Claude Duvalier, took the required oath as President for Life of the Republic, before the Dean of the Civil Court of Port-au-Prince, Judge Fournier Fortuné," reported the April 22, 1971 edition of Le Nouvelliste.

Ertha Pascal Trouillot, a judge at the Court of Cassation, was designated to preside over the country after the resignation of General Prosper Avril on March 10, 1990. Madame Trouillot is the only female president of Haiti, the first woman admitted to the bar of Port-au-Prince, and the first woman judge in 1986. According to the Le Nouvelliste issue published the same day, Ertha Pascal Trouillot took the oath before the Court of Cassation, at the Palace of Justice, on March 12, 1990. On March 13, at the National Palace, General Hérard Abraham officially handed over power to the provisional president during a ceremony attended by political leaders, the high command of the FADH, the diplomatic corps, and representatives of civil society.