Somewhere along the way former Fugee Wyclef Jean got the idea he should be the President of Haiti. And as the Washington Post reported just last week, he could have been a contender. Haiti’s electoral council had other ideas, however, disqualifying him for failing to satisfy the residency requirement. Although he was born in Haiti, Jean has not lived in Haiti since he was nine. Jean’s statement is here. Given his questionable financial and non-profit management skills, it’s not clear Haiti’s the loser in this. As President he could have made high-profile appeals for aid, but who knows where the money would have gone.
This wasn’t the first time Wyclef Jean thought about politics. He recorded the song “If I Was President” in 2008 which features this chorus:
If I was president
I’d get elected on Friday
Assassinated on Saturday
Buried on Sunday
Then go back to work on Monday
If I was president
One version of the lyrics can be found here (he’s used different versions at different times), and here are a video, a live performance in Madrid, and a live acoustic version from the Chappelle show.