the following posts: 1944–46 Minister of the Interior; 1946–48 Minister of Labor; 1948–49 Attorney General; 1949–53 Dean of the University of Santo Domingo; 1949–53 Professor of Constitutional and Civil Law; 1953–54 Prime Minister; 1954 Minister of Education; 1954–56 Ambassador to Spain; 1956–57 Minister of Justice, 1957–59 Ambassador to Venezuela; 1960–62 vice-president of the Dominican Republic. Bonnelly's main achievement as president was to organize the Dominican Republic's first free elections after the end of the 30-year-long Trujillo dictatorship, in which Dr. Juan Bosch was elected. But, during his brief but intensive Presidency, Bonnelly's Government wrote and passed some of the principal legislation in the country, such as the Banking and Housing laws, which are still used. In 1966, Bonnelly made an unsuccessful run for the presidency in an election which was won by Dr. Joaquín Balaguer, with strong backing from the government of American President Lyndon Johnson. Bonnelly and Balaguer were friends in their early days, and served together in several posts during the Trujillo dictatorship, but they became political opponents after Balaguer was ousted from the Presidency in 1961, being substituted by Bonnelly, his vice-president at the time. Head to head with Balaguer Bonnelly's last public bout with Balaguer was a national display of penmanship between the two leaders, right after the national elections of May 1978. Seeing that Balaguer's Partido Reformista was losing the elections, Balaguer's generals raided the Electoral Board and stopped the vote counting, sinking the country in a state of unrest and uncertainty. During two weeks, Bonnelly and Balaguer engaged in a public debate published in the main newspapers of the country, which ended with Balaguer accepting his defeat and proclaiming Antonio Guzmán, the candidate for the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) and the President-Elect. In the summer of 1979, he was awarded the Doctorate Honoris Causa by the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), the leading private university in the country. On December 28, 1979, Dr. Rafael Bonnelly died of cancer in his home in Santo Domingo. References 1904 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Dominican Republic politicians People from Santiago de los Caballeros Presidents of the Dominican Republic Vice presidents of the Dominican Republic Interior ministers of the Dominican Republic Labour ministers of the Dominican Republic Education ministers of the Dominican Republic Justice ministers of the Dominican Republic Ambassadors of the Dominican Republic to Spain Ambassadors of the Dominican Republic to Venezuela Dominican Republic people of