A snub from the White House, a controversial stay at Blair House, an encounter with Dave Chappelle’s mother and a CIA-arranged tryst — what happened when Congo’s beleaguered leader visited D.C. in 1960.
The Prime Minister of Congo Patrice Lumumba speaks with U.S. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Christian Herter in Washington in July 1960. | Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty ImagesThe Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination
The trip would turn out to be the beginning of the end for Lumumba, however. The officials he met with not only rebuffed his substantive requests; they also claimed to find his style so off-putting that they lost any confidence they had had in him. But even this bare-bones reception, designed in part to accommodate Belgian colonial sensitivities, prompted immediate protest from Brussels. “A cordial handshake for the Negro who is responsible for an unknown number of rapes of Belgian women, Belgian nuns, wives of American missionaries,” raged a columnist for the conservative newspaper, blaming Lumumba for his failure to bring the chaotic post-independence mutiny under control.
With no White House visit on the agenda, Lumumba’s delegation filled its schedule with sightseeing and shopping. At the Lincoln Memorial, the Congolese learned about the Civil War, a secessionist conflict Lumumba could not avoid comparing to his own, likening Jefferson Davis to Moise Tshombe, the leader of the breakaway province in Katanga. “All those who want secession are bound to be beaten in the end,” he declared.
Yvonne Reed, just 22 years old and fresh out of college, attended the reception in the stead of her mother, who was active in the civil rights movement. Like her mother, Reed had often felt the sting of racism — Washington was still largely segregated at the time — and although she felt out of place at the reception, she was eager to meet the Congolese prime minister. By the time she arrived, the receiving line had broken and Lumumba was enmeshed in a circle of reporters.
Herter was sixty-five years old, a grandfather several times over. He had begun his diplomatic career during World War I and spoke in the soothing, mid-Atlantic accent one would expect of a Massachusetts Republican and husband of a Pratt heiress. He had broad shoulders and bushy eyebrows and, the day he met Lumumba, sported a polka-dot bow tie. He was the very picture of American diplomacy.
A career Foreign Service officer in attendance echoed this assessment, finding “no evidence” that Lumumba was crazy, as critics had suggested. Other officials registered his “brilliance” and “articulateness.” Even Lumumba’s solicitation of a plane was viewed somewhat sympathetically, with Herter passing on the request to the U.N.
The subject came up at an interagency conference Dillon attended at the Pentagon shortly after meeting Lumumba. Someone raised the prospect of assassinating Lumumba, but a CIA representative shut down the discussion, perhaps because the group was too large for such a sensitive topic, or perhaps because the idea was deemed impractical. Nonetheless, a new idea had been floated, a moral boundary probed.was 69 years old, nearing the end of his second term, and running out of steam.
At 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, the president walked into the Cabinet Room of the White House, a high-ceilinged chamber off the Oval Office with a fireplace, a portrait of George Washington, and views of the Rose Garden through arched windows. He sat down in the leather chair designated for him, slightly taller than everyone else’s, and called to order the weekly meeting of the National Security Council.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Oregon’s Bo Nix goes viral for passionate address after loss to WashingtonFormer Auburn quarterback turned heads for his answer during press conference Saturday.
Read more »
How House Speaker Became Washington’s Most Miserable JobAn expert on House speakers explains how changes in campaign finance, media, and the type of people who get elected created the current debacle.
Read more »
House Republicans Rally Behind Jordan for House SpeakerSource of breaking news and analysis, insightful commentary and original reporting, curated and written specifically for the new generation of independent and conservative thinkers.
Read more »
White House maintains hands-off approach to House GOP chaosNaomi Lim is a White House reporter at the Washington Examiner. She previously reported on crime and politics for News Corp Australia. She returned to Washington in 2015 after interning in Washington, D.C., as an undergraduate. She worked at CNN and the BBC while earning a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University.
Read more »
Biden shifts focus away from domestic affairs as Israel war intensifiesNaomi Lim is a White House reporter at the Washington Examiner. She previously reported on crime and politics for News Corp Australia. She returned to Washington in 2015 after interning in Washington, D.C., as an undergraduate. She worked at CNN and the BBC while earning a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University.
Read more »
Liberal Media Scream: CBS anchor scoffs, ‘indictment’ of Biden?No one knows Washington secrets like Paul Bedard. This longtime D.C. reporter joined the Washington Examiner in 2012 after penning U.S. News & World Report's premiere political column, 'Washington Whispers,' for more than a decade. In addition to his Washington Secrets column, check out his signature feature, 'Liberal Media Scream.
Read more »