The country was occupied by the United States from 1916 to 1924. In 1930, Rafael Trujillo became the president of the country through a coup d'état. Trujillo was a cruel dictator, killing thousands of people, among them many Haitians. Trujillo was killed in 1961. After the death of Trujillo, Juan Bosch was elected in 1962 and became, in 1963, the first elected president since 1930. But was Bosch was in power for only seven months. In 1965, there was a civil war between those that wanted Bosch back on power and those that were opposed to him. Then the country was invaded again by the United States.