Preface Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, was an iconic figure of the 20th century, who came to embody the majesty of the African continent and its people in the minds of many Americans. Starting at least with his coronation as Ethiopia's King of Kings in 1930, and continuing through the velvet revolution that overthrew him in 1974, the emperor was a well-known celebrity in the United States. In the years following World War II, Haile Selassie cultivated his nation's friendship with the United States, and starting in 1954 he came to Washington on six state visits, the most of any reigning foreign head of state up until that time, and also traveled to many other destinations in North America. His fame as an international celebrity was well earned. He won it the old fashioned way: by significant accomplishments. Wartime always produces new heroes, and before and during World War II, Haile Selassie was elevated into high visibility by being among the first to stand up to the European dictators, who shortly would wreak such worldwide havoc, and subsequently to champion an international order to prevent similar malevolence from threatening weaker nations again. At the League of Nations, the little king creted, in image and in word, a composition of rich emotional eloquence. The Haile Selassie we see in the old newsreels is the one who registered on the national conscience and created a place for, himself in the American heart that remained thereafter. The emperor's visits to-the United States generated rapt attention from the media, and the wily monarch manipulated that coverage to further the programs and causes that he believed in. Number one on his list of priorities was himself. Having briefly lost power during the Italian occupation of Abyssinia, he wanted to stay in power and never relinquish it again. To do this, he needed military might that was sufficient to put down rebellion at home and to defend Ethiopia against outside aggression. Economic development of his country also would help him remain on the throne-enough to satisfy progressives who clamored far change but not too much to antagonize feudal lords and the Ethiopian Church, who preferred the status quo. Further, Haile Selassie was intent on maintaining his nation's sovereignty and the boundaries of greater Ethiopia that he and his imperial predecessors had worked hard to establish. He was obsessed with collective security, thought the United Nations the best perpetuator of the idea, demanded an end to colonialism, especially in Africa, and promoted Pan-Africanism and African unity. The stone-faced ruler sought to project his image as an elder statesman and leader of Africa whose moderating voice would be heard and respected throughout the continent. At the same time, during the height of the Cold War, he wanted to be an active player in the nonaligned movement, a bravura act of tightrope walking, given U.S. bases in his country and treaties with the United States in his diplomatic portfolio. By royal ritual and performance, Haile Selassie hoped to persuade his foreign audiences that the king was a great person, one of illustrious lineage and with impressive actual and symbolic powers, especially in his heading of an ancient country of the Christian faith. To realize more fully these aspirations, the emperor needed the good will of the American people and the bankrolling of his causes by the U.S, government. Thus his frequent state visits were rationalized as needed personal diplomacy with the U.S. president in what he perceived as crisis after crisis involving Ethiopia's security - and as an excuse to extend his own power. The American response to his visits was far greater than the emperor could have envisioned. The U.S. Department of State staged rituals with spectacular moments where diplomacy and entertainment converged before adoring crowds. Celebrity works on emotions, and the pseudo events starring the Ethiopian king of kings provided an ecstatic merging of magic and reality that left an indelible imprint on Americans' emotional memory. Fossessing exactly the right combination of gravitas and mystery, the emperor played upon the mystic chords of memory of his audiences. If kingship is created entirely by the way other people react to a ruler, the little king had willing subjects in the throngs that cheered him along the urban boulevards and rural routes source of information-especially in their outstanding newsletter The Herald, edited by that nonpareil wordsmith Barry Hillenbrand. A special tip of the hat goes to the knowledgeable librarians, archivists, and audiovisual specialists of the National Archives and Records Administration and the presidential libraries of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon; the Library of Congress; and the university libraries of Boston University; Georgetown; Harvard; Oklahoma State University, Stillwater; Princeton; St. Andrews; University of Texas; University of Tulsa; Yale; and, most especially, the reference librarians of Oklahoma State University, Tulsa. Michael Millman, senior editor at ABC CLIe, was a patient supporter of my book from the proposal stage onward, and WIthout his assistance and encouragement, this project would never have come to completion. Closer to home, I thank my granddaughter Julianne Thomson, a graduate student in archeology at Oxford, for editing work; my son Edward Vestal, in Singapore, who scoured U.S. military libraries to get me information on the air forces of Ethiopia and Somalia; and my wife Pat, who keeps fine arts at the center of our lives and encourages the pursuit of excellence. |
