CHAPTER 7 The Spring of the Lion
When Haile Selassie went off on his grand tour of North America in the spring of 1954, he was traveling at a time when the weather in most places he visited was at its best. The Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah was 61 years-old and still sprightly. Several reporters commented on the emperor’s looking younger than his years and his maintaining equanimity in the face of a flurry of activities and a busy schedule. He could still scamper up and down ladders into the innards of great dams and exuberantly climb around working roughnecks and roustabouts on oil drilling rigs. A grave, courteous man of frail figure but commanding presence, HIM carried himself with shoulders squared and bearded chin imperiously up tilted, and he could hold a smart military salute for five minutes without blinking while anthems played and cannons roared. The emperor was at his best while exploring the new world, and a look at the respect he garnered from Americans of all classes and walks of life demonstrates the efficacy of his personal public diplomacy. The skillful use of public relations was his forte. The gait of the lion is relaxed until he is ready to charge. The charge is a series of great springs. So it was with Haile Selassie, who traveled relaxed until he sprang into the memories of Americans far more powerfully than he could know. On June 3, 1954, Haile Selassie arrived in a specially chartered TWA Constellation at Boston’s Logan Airport, where he was met by Mayor John B. Hynes. The two conversed in French and were whisked in The Spring of the Lion 65 an 11-car motorcade to what is now called the Old City Hall, where a crowd of about 1,000, including many of Boston’s most prominent citizens, awaited them. Brilliant skies and cool breezes greeted the emperor, who was again dressed in his field marshal’s uniform. The mayor welcomed HIM to “the oldest and best city in America.” Haile Selassie signed the city hall guest book in Amharic and told his assembled admirers, “We have been tremendously impressed with the wealth of learning amassed around the city of Boston in institutions of unparalleled influence in cultural and scientific fields.” 1 The royal party then drove to the golden-domed statehouse. Reporters noticed a new addition to the parade of limos—a Cadillac convertible sporting a huge “Welcome to Boston” sign and filled with attractive ladies from the Del-Thomas modeling agency. The car was sponsored by a state legislator from a predominately African American district in the city and definitely drew the attention of male spectators. In the executive suite of the statehouse, the emperor met Governor Christian B. Herter, who would replace the ailing John Foster Dulles as Eisenhower’s secretary of state in 1959. State employees who lined the corridor gave HIM an enthusiastic ovation as he made his way to the legislative chambers to address a joint session of the Massachusetts legislature. Haile Selassie moved with great dignity, apparently impervious of the crush of newsmen, photographers, and a heavy police guard. John Spencer had misplaced the short speech that he had prepared for HIM to deliver in English, so Haile Selassie went to the rostrum and improvised in Amharic in a low voice almost inaudible in the gallery. The translation also was low voiced. Despite the audio level, Spencer thought the emperor made a creditable oration. 2 The House adopted a resolution saluting “the career of service of Haile Selassie, a man who, standing before kings has always placed his trust in the common people.” Leaving the capital, the emperor sped to the Harvard University campus across the Charles River in Cambridge. Householders waved from apartments and boaters from the water as the motorcade passed. Sunbathers along the river side stood up to cheer. The emperor was greeted by a noontime crowd of several thousand Harvard students who formed a human aisle through which the motorcade passed. Haile Selassie parked his car in Harvard Yard and stood in his open Chrysler as the students applauded. The emperor sat down then stood up as the clapping continued. He then removed his officer’s cap and bowed with aplomb to the cheering students. Harvard President Nathan M. Pusey welcomed HIM to the campus and accompanied him to Houghton Library where the monarch examined 66 The Lion of Judah in the New World several tomes, including the first book published in Africa (in 1516), Commentary on the Book of Prayer, by David Abudraham. 3 The king of kings concluded his visit to the hub of the universe with a late lunch at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel hosted by Hynes and Herter. He told the 300 diners that Boston was “undoubtedly the cultural capital of the United States.” Prince Sahle was asked to say a few words, and in one of his rare public talks said that he was deeply moved by the reception being given his party in America. Before he left for the airport, the emperor was presented with a silver bowl, the traditional gift from Boston to visiting heads of state. Altogether the emperor had spent only six whirlwind hours in Boston, but he had impressed the Bostonians with his sincerity and his dignity. 4 OH, CANADA! The royal party left Boston for Ottawa at 4:00 p.m. on a four-engine Royal Canadian Air Force transport North Star. Only five years earlier, theNorth Star, a reengined C-54/DC-4, had been the first aircraft to fly nonstop across Canada, the 2,785 miles from Vancouver to Halifax. That feat had put the RCAF Air Transport Group on the map, a reputation further burnished during the Korean airlift in the early 1950s that was a contributing factor to bolstering UN forces during the fighting. Precisely on schedule at 6:00 p.m ., Haile Selassie was met at Ottawa’s Rockcliffe Airport by Governor General Vincent Massey, Prime Minister Louis Saint Laurent, and the Canadian chiefs of staff, resplendent in dress uniforms and carrying their swords. The emperor passed a guard of honor from the army and air force on a red-carpeted dais while a 21-gun salute boomed. Haile Selassie later confided in Spencer that in the Americas, it was the Canadians who best knew how to treat royalty. Of course, HIM may have felt more at home in Canada, being able to speak French wherever he went. His trip to Canada was described by the emperor as “a long sought opportunity.” Canadian media gave extensive coverage of Haile Selassie’s state visit and the history of Ethiopia in both English and French. The press noted that the emperor wore a Sam Browne belt, a Commonwealth-specific detail that reporters in the United States failed to recognize. 5 That evening, in honor of HIM, Massey was the host of a reception and state dinner attended by cabinet ministers and heads of diplomatic missions at his residency at Rideau Hall (Government House). Haile Selassie had completed a gourmand’s trifecta in one day, having had breakfast in New York City, lunch in Boston, and dinner in Ottawa. The Spring of the Lion 67 In remarks at the state dinner, the emperor commended the work of Canadians in the reconstruction and development of the educational system of Ethiopia. 6 On the next morning (June 5), the affable Haile Selassie was dressed in a neatly cut grey suite with a dark blue polka-dot tie, topcoat, and homburg as he drove through the capital on his way to the gothic revival suite of buildings on The Hill, as the Parliament Hill is called colloquially. Despite rain and overcast skies, many Ottawans turned out to applaud the emperor. As he entered the parliament buildings, out over the foggy air wafted the national anthem of Ethiopia played by Robert Donnell, carillonneur. HIM marched slowly from the Senate to the Commons side, accompanied in stately procession, first by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, and then by the Sergeant at Arms of the Commons. It was the apotheosis of regal pomp and circumstance, and the emperor gloried in it. When Haile Selassie took his seat in the diplomatic gallery to observe the Commons debate, the members pounded their desks in salutation. The king of kings sat impassively as the Speaker expressed Parliament’s welcome. The public galleries were unusually crowded for a morning session. The Ottawa Citizen noted that upon entering the gallery, Haile Selassie “did more than any British king [could] do.” Ever since the Commons had banned Prince Charles, no British monarch had ever set foot in the Commons. The emperor wore reading glasses low on his nose as he read in French and English his address at the opening of Parliament “in recognition of Canada’s valuable support to Ethiopia’s claims to Eritrea at the time of the Paris Peace Conference.” 7 He expressed his pleasure in being in Ottawa “in this centennial year.” After leaving the diplomatic gallery, Haile Selassie held a press conference where he spoke softly in Amharic to a crowd of newsmen who jammed the parliamentary press gallery lounge. The little king was described as having Solomonlike qualities when he was asked whether there were any statesmen in the world today with the attributes of his wise forebear, Solomon. The ruler pondered the question for some time before replying. Then he softly said, “There are very many wise men in the world today. It is difficult to choose one; other wise men might not like it.” 8 In the afternoon, Massey held a reception attended by cabinet ministers and heads of diplomatic missions. In shaking hands with the dignitaries, Haile Selassie limply presented only a piece of his hand that one could not “crush or squeeze.” This defensive mechanism, called “a trick of famous men” by the Canadian press, saved the hand of HIM to shake another day. The sangfroid perseverance of the emperor earned 68 The Lion of Judah in the New World him the accolade of “probably the most informal monarch who ever visited Ottawa.” 9 That evening, Massey escorted the emperor to Rockcliffe airport and bade him farewell as the monarch left the city and flew in a RCAF aircraft to Montreal. There, the bearded monarch was the guest of the Montreal Metropolitan Commission, at a reception attended by 225 at the Windsor Hotel and at a dinner for 1,200 at Chalet de la Montaigne, situated on Mont-Royal with the most spectacular view of Montreal. 10 On June 5, the emperor received an honorary degree from McGill University at a special convocation. 11 Afterward, a luncheon was given for HIM by Gaspard Fauteux, the lieutenant governor of Quebec before the royal party was driven to the Port of Montreal through applauding crowds in the crowded street. The royals sailed down the Saint Lawrence River to Quebec City aboard the government ship d’Iberville, an icebreaker. Haile Selassie was the recipient of another honorary degree from Laval University in Quebec City, the oldest center of education in Canada and the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French. From there the emperor flew to Windsor, Ontario, where he spent the night. WESTWARD, HO! Early the next morning, the royal party drove North across Ambassador Bridge to Detroit, where they were met by top officials and dignitaries of the city. At a reception at the Detroit City Hall, Mayor Albert Cobo presented HIM with the key to the city and a medallion showing the beginning and growth of the Motor City. In a brief press conference, Haile Selassie lauded the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision that “won the praise of the entire world.” A crowd of 3,000 gathered outside City Hall and cheered as the slight, military-erect monarch departed. His motorcade drove to Ann Arbor, where, in a morning convocation HIM received an honorary degree of doctor of civil laws from the University of Michigan, the oldest land-grant state university in the country. The royals then enjoyed a luncheon with the university’s regents and leading faculty members. Haile Selassie presented the university with an antique Amharic Bible for its rare books collection. 12 From Ann Arbor, the royals flew to the state capital, Lansing, for a tour of an Oldsmobile automobile plant as guests of General Motors and then to a reception given by Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams, which was attended by 80 state officials. HIM presented the governor with a gold medal and in return was given a ceramic plate The Spring of the Lion 69 with a map of Michigan on it and a bow tie (a sartorial trade mark of Governor “Soapy” Williams). In the afternoon, at the Lansing Airport, the royal party boarded the special TWA Super Constellation, Star of Bombay, the aircraft that would be their air transport throughout the rest of their stay in the United States. The plane was especially equipped with the front made into a state room compartment for the royal family, with drapes shutting it off from the rest of the plane. Handsome, thick carpets and rugs were laid in the compartment. According to the pilot, Captain V. J. Statt, of Kansas City, “The royals stayed in the compartment by themselves.” On the tarmac in Lansing, the engines of the red and white TWA plane came to life. TheStar of Bombay sped down the runway, cut across the sun and pointed westward toward Chicago. As they approached the Windy City, Haile Selassie was impressed by the air view and asked the pilot to circle the city before landing. Captain Statt found the emperor to be very reserved and stately, and conducted himself “as you’d expect a monarch should. He asked questions about everything.” 13 The grave, courteous king, the first reigning emperor ever to visit Chicago, was greeted at Midway Airport by Mayor Martin H. Kennelly. The mayor described HIM as “a world figure who symbolizes lion-hearted courage and passionate resistance to aggression and enslavement.” The emperor made the mayor a Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia, the award level apparently deemed appropriate for mayors and city leaders. The royal party then was driven, with a motorcycle escort, to the Drake Hotel on North Michigan Avenue, where they occupied 31 rooms. A cheering crowd of 25,000 lined the route from the airport along Michigan Avenue. 14 A young graduate student at the University of Chicago, Donald Levine, who later would be the dean of American Ethiopianists, had to move quickly to the route of the motorcade to catch a glimpse of the emperor speeding by. At the crack of dawn the next morning, Haile Selassie started a whirlwind of activity, beginning with a visit to the mammoth Chicago union stockyards, where the little king gaped at the livestock and shook hands with a towering cowboy from Montana. This was followed by a tour of the Swift and Company packing plant. After a lunch with 1,000 civic leaders at the Sherman Hotel, the royal party took an afternoon Burlington train to Cicero, Illinois, where they inspected a railroad roundhouse and a steel mill, the South Works of U.S. Steel. Back in Chicago, HIM made an unscheduled stop to attend a worship service at the Parkway Baptist Church, where he briefly addressed a mainly African American congregation of 3,000. Ending a 70 The Lion of Judah in the New World tightly scheduled, 24-hour stay in Chicago, the royals took an evening flight to Saint Paul. 15 The Star of Bombay landed at the Twin Cities airport, and the emperor was greeted by the mayors of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The small man of great composure and many titles looked drawn and weary as he inspected another honor guard and made his way to the Hotel Saint Paul. But the next morning he was full of energy, which was a good thing, because Ambassador Simonson had requested HIM to spend considerable time in Minnesota, his home state, and had scheduled a very full day of activities. The Defender of the Faith attended early devotions at Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill, where Simonson had been the pastor. After a Scandinavian breakfast at the church, the emperor walked across the street to visit the state capitol and meet Governor C. Elmer Anderson. The royal’s 13-car caravan led by Haile Selassie in a flashy red convertible then paraded through downtown Saint Paul and, accompanied by troops of the Minnesota National Guard and the highway patrol, crossed the Mississippi River to Minneapolis. They visited the state fair, the main campus and agricultural campus of the University of Minnesota, and a flour mill on their drive through the city. The cavalcade drove southeast to Rochester, Minnesota, where the royal party saw the Mayo Clinic. Youngsters waving little Ethiopian flags greeted the emperor as he drove through small towns. The motorcade continued 90 miles south to make a brief stop at a typical Minnesota farm, where the fields were green with sprouted corn. After looking over beef cattle foraging in pasture, the royals were served crisp homemade cookies and lemonade by their hosts, the Doty family. The tour resumed with the entourage viewing wheat fields and fodder-filled silos jutting up from barnyards in southern Minnesota. 16 At Austin, Simonson’s hometown, they donned white coats and inspected the Hormel Meat Packing Plant, home of Spam. Haile Selassie was interested in the meatpacking industry because, as he noted, Ethiopia had none. The response of the citizens of Austin to a royal visit was typical of the exuberance displayed by small towns in America in playing hosts to the distinguished Ethiopian guests. The local newspaper had a banner-sized headline, “Austin Entertains Royalty.” 17 An editorial stated, “Austin today welcomed sincerely and with warm felicitations its distinguished guest, Emperor Haile Selassie. It also whets our community pride to note that Austin and the Midwest’s metropolis, Chicago, shared an initial experience—the first time either community has had occasion to be host to an emperor.” The content of the Austin The Spring of the Lion 71 editorial, the main points repeated in newspaper editorials throughout the country, recalled the events surrounding the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie’s attempts to modernize his nation, his efforts to rule as a constitutional rather than absolute monarch, and the status of Ethiopia as a nation friendly to the United States. On the way back to Saint Paul, the emperor stopped at Northfield where he visited two liberal arts college, Saint Olaf, Simonson’s alma mater, where he had tea with Clements Granshou, the college president, and Carleton College. En route, The royals made an impromptu stop at the town, Owatonna, which was celebrating its centennial. All males in the area were ordered to grow beards or face indignant punishments. The celebrants refused to let the motorcade pass until they made a presentation to HIM in honor of his beard. They gave the emperor a top hat, some wooden nickels, and a T-shirt. The little king was amused. Later, he sent the town a medal from Ethiopia. At a press conference in Saint Paul, Haile Selassie told reporters he was favorably impressed with U.S. agriculture being so carefully planned and thought out. He found that America surpassed anything he knew or had read about the United States. In the evening, a civic state dinner honoring HIM was held in the University of Minnesota Memorial Union Ballroom. Dr. Charles W. Mayo, head of the Mayo Clinic and president of the American Association for the United Nations, presided. Mayo introduced Simonson who introduced HIM to the overflow crowd of diners. Among those attending was Carl Rowan, then a prize-winning reporter with the Minneapolis Tribune, who would later have a distinguished career in diplomacy. In his remarks, the monarch stressed that a recently negotiated commercial treaty and an American dollar-based currency in Ethiopia should encourage the investment of American capital in his country. The emperor added to the evergrowing ranks of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia by making Mayor Eric Hoyer a grand officer of the order. 18 On the morning of June 10, the royal party flew to Spokane, Washington, landing at Geiger Field. Washington’s acting Governor Emmett T. Anderson was the official greeter and host of the inland empire. The entourage drove directly to the Grand Coulee Dam, where they observed the facilities with which the mighty Columbia River had been harnessed. They inspected the powerhouse and pumping plant, accompanied by officials of the reclamation bureau. The emperor, who climbed down some long ladders during the tour, was especially interested in the dam operations because he was “hoping to return to his native Ethiopia with plans for development of water-power projects for 72 The Lion of Judah in the New World that country.” At the time, the United States was assisting in surveying the Blue Nile, a great potential power source. 19 After the tour, the party returned to the Davenport Hotel, where they spent the night. 20 The emperor’s flight to Seattle the next morning received a military jet escort into the airport, and HIM was greeted with the crash of a 21-gun salute upon deplaning. The royals visited a massive Boeing Aircraft plant, where 35,000 workers, including 5,000 engineers were employed. The visitors saw the prototype U.S. Air Force B-52 jet bomber, described as mighty, which was still a year away from being put in active service. Boeing was about to enter the infant jet airliner business, and the emperor was intrigued with the company’s new designs. For decades thereafter, Ethiopian Airlines was one of Boeing’s best customers. After lunch with the commanding officer of the Bremerton Naval Base, Admiral Homer N. Wallin, at his residency, and a tour of the base, the entourage went to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where HIM was cheered by thousands who threw confetti in his path. The navy brass took Haile Selassie on an inspection of a destroyer. In the evening, the mayor of Seattle, Allan Pomeroy, gave a reception for the monarch at the swank Rainier Club, which was attended by 1,000 people. On the next day, the emperor made one of the few cancellations of a scheduled event when he decided not to make a trip to Mount Rainier in order to rest. 21 Haile Selassie and his entourage were serenaded by the Shrine Oriental Band at the Olympic Hotel where both groups were staying. Shriners and their interpretation of oriental splendor had also shared public attention with HIM at Princeton, where they had begun a downtown parade just as the emperor’s motorcade was leaving. On June12, the royal party had an afternoon departure for San Francisco on the Sothern Pacific Railroad’s streamliner the Klamath . The emperor complained to Seattle reporters that he was so close to the Pacific Ocean but had not had an opportunity to see it. That travel goal was taken care of from the two special Pullman cars and an observation lounge on Southern Pacific’s scenic route along the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. On the night of June 13, the royal party arrived in Oakland at the Mole, the massive railways wharf and ferry pier that was still in use in the 1950s. The wharf was used to transport railroad freight cars across the bay to San Francisco. A crowd of 1,500 was at the station to greet the emperor, smiling and gracious, as he stepped down from his Pullman. Mayor Clifford Rishell of Oakland officially welcomed HIM and gave him yet another key to a city. The emperor made him a The Spring of the Lion 73 Commander of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia. 22 The royals had arrived on Flag Day, and the Oakland Tribune had a welcoming editorial and a Lou Grant political cartoon showing Ethiopia under the jackboot of Italy and Haile Selassie telling an American, “Never take your flag for granted, my friend. . . .” The indefatigable little king then took his place in a nine-limousine motorcade with a motorcycle escort of six white-helmeted Oakland police for a ride across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco’s Nob Hill. A throng of 500, who were waiting in the lobby of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, applauded when Haile Selassie strode in. The emperor was housed in the palatial Imperial Suite on the 17th floor that featured a glass-terraced bedroom commanding an inspiring view of downtown San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and Oakland beyond. The suite was only two floors beneath the renowned Top o’ the Mark, the hotel bar with famed view windows. A $60,000 refurbishment of the Imperial Suite had been completed only two days before, and the bathroom had 24-carat gold handles. HIM’s first query was, “Where is the bathroom with gold knobs? I’ve been hearing about it.” He was officially welcomed by City Attorney Dion Holm before setting out for the Veterans Administration hospital at Fort Miley. There he visited Ethiopian and U.S. soldiers who had been wounded in Korea and presented the hospital with a six-foot gold-plated cross for the chapel. The royals enjoyed a leisurely drive through Golden Gate Park and were received at the stately City Hall by Mayor Elmer Robinson just before noon. The mayor presented HIM with gifts—a gavel made of redwood and a Steuben Glass goblet. Haile Selassie gave the mayor two elephant tusks tipped with gold on a wooden base. He then bestowed Order of the Star of Ethiopia titles and medals on California Governor Goodwin Knight (Knight of the Grand Cross) and Mayor Robinson (Grand Commander). A reporter noted that Princess Seble “limped as if her feet were killing her.” 23 The royal party’s motorcade drove down Market Street, which was lined with cheering spectators. Haile Selassie waved both hands in response and smiled. HIM addressed a luncheon meeting of the Commonwealth Club at the Palace Hotel, attended by 1,000 people. He told the members it was inspiring to see “the way of life of this great nation” and “the happiness and prosperity of its citizens.” For three minutes the emperor praised California and its climate—so much like Ethiopia. He confessed to being fond of eating California fruits. In the late afternoon, the World Affairs Council of Northern California held a reception for HIM at the Gold Room of the Fairmont Hotel. The emperor 74 The Lion of Judah in the New World expressed the hope that the strength of the United States would be a preventive of war. He asserted that big nations could best combat the spread of communism “by giving economic help to small nations.” The very full day for HIM concluded with dinner at the Press and Union League Club. When asked about the U.S. Supreme Court decisionBrown v. Board of Education, the emperor said, “The decision will not only strengthen the ties between Ethiopia and the United States but also will win friends everywhere in the world.” 24 The next morning, the royal party departed by car for Yosemite National Park. They had decided to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles rather than fly, in order to see the redwoods and the spectacular scenery around Big Sur. The U.S. State Department had assigned John Utter as liaison officer to accompany Haile Selassie on the eight-hour drive. On the way, the emperor saw anchored in Suisun Bay a large number of ships that were not being used. Utter explained that these ships were in the U.S. “mothball fleet” and that they were largely old World War II ships that were being retained in this status as an emergency measure. They were not available for sale or transfer, and even if they were they would require considerable costly rehabilitation. 25 The emperor’s vision apparently was better than his hearing, for he subsequently inquired about getting some of the vessels for Ethiopia’s navy. Utter also was involved in what John Spencer described as a rare moment of levity with HIM. At one point when conversation flagged, Haile Selassie asked, “How many children do you have, Mr. Utter?” “Sir, I am not married” was the reply. “But you have not answered by question, Mr. Utter” was Haile Selassie’s wry retort. 26 The travelers had a brief rest stop at a hotel in Modesto, where the local press noted that they did not attract a large crowd. The royals arrived at noon at Yosemite, where they spent the night. In the park, they saw the Wawona big trees, the giant redwoods, Mirror Lake, and several waterfalls. On the following day, they visited Sequoia National Park en route to Los Angeles and saw Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, and, at 14,505 feet, is slightly shorter than Ethiopia’s tallest, Mount Ras Deshan. After a 500 mile drive from Yosemite, the emperor arrived in Los Angeles the next evening escorted by state highway patrol cars and a dozen motorcycles officers. He registered at the Ambassador Hotel where near the lobby was a throne, a white velvet chair in the center of a dais that had been set up for the occasion. HIM, attired in a field marshal’s uniform, sat on the throne with a rich canopy above with a backdrop of beige and aquamarine velvet. He looked tired but was The Spring of the Lion 75 unruffled by brilliant floodlights and flashing bulbs as he faced a battery of questions from reporters, movie news cameras, and television interviewers. His demeanor was serene and imperially august. 27 The royal party went to Glendale Hospital and Sanitarium, a Seventh Day Adventist Church institution, where they enjoyed a reunion and vegetarian buffet supper with three married couples, missionaries and physicians, who had served in Ethiopia. The church maintained four hospitals that were established 28 years before in Ethiopia. One of the physicians, Dr. George C. Bergman, had not seen Haile Selassie in 10 years. At the reception, HIM met the 84-year-old mother of his supervisor of the palace, Della Hanson, also a missionary. 28 The next morning the entourage drove through movie-land homes of Beverly Hills and Bel Air and toured the 20th Century Fox motion picture studio. In the studio they made their way through cowtowns, a New England fishing village, Egyptian temples, and Old South manses. The Royals witnessed the shooting ofDésirée, a costume drama about Napoleon and Josephine, directed by Henry Koster. There Haile Selassie I met Napoleon the First, who was portrayed by Marlon Brando. Did HIM know he was seeing the model of antiestablishment behavior outfitted for the role of Napoleon in the film? The emperor told Brando that he had seenJulius Caesar on the United States coming over. Speaking in French he added, the picture was tres jolie. Brando gazed at the two medallions on his costume and at the 10 rows of decorations on the emperor’s uniform (many of his own design) and remarked, “You’ve won more battles than I have.” The emperor shook hands with actress Jean Simmons, resplendent in a 19th-century costume. She was one of a very few on the set who did not tower over HIM. The costumes were impressive, and Désirée ’s costume design was nominated for an Academy Award the next year. The always technologically inquisitive emperor looked through the lens of a CinemaScope camera, a new wide-screen type of motion picture popular at the time. At the luncheon provided by 20th Century Fox, Marilyn Monroe did not appear as had been announced, but Rita Moreno attracted much interest in a low-cut dress. Before leaving the studio, the movie-loving monarch, who was like an overjoyed little boy at a candy store, also met and posed with film stars Merle Oberon (who was the Empress Josephine inDésirée ), Dan Dailey, Bella Darvi, Edmund Purdom, Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, and Reginald Gardiner. 29 At 12:00 noon, Mayor Norris Poulson held a private reception for the emperor at City Hall. Haile Selassie, wearing a jaunty sports cap, was cheered by thousands as he made his way to the city hall forecourt. 76 The Lion of Judah in the New World Though jaunty laid the head that wore that crown, there were, alas, no photographs of the L.A. sartorial headgear. The mayor stopped HIM at the threshold and pointed out the inscription quoting King Solomon carved in stone above the door: “Righteousness exalteth a people.” In his private suite, the Mayor gave the king an illuminated leatherbound folio of his remarks, and Haile Selassie made Poulson a Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia. At the mayor’s luncheon at the Ambassador Hotel, the 1,000 in attendance gave HIM a standing ovation. In brief remarks, the emperor compared California and Ethiopia: We have been impressed with the richness and importance of your state. The long trip through the Northwest has shown us the unending wealth of forests and streams and mineral resources, all of which remind us of Ethiopia. You are, at the same time, a rich agricultural state, and to cap it all, an industrial state, where the industry extends from oil to that of cinema. Surely you have reason to be proud of California. 30 “Only in Ethiopia,” he said, “can a climate equal to that of California be found.” The emperor expressed the hope that the United States and Ethiopia could arrange for young Ethiopians to attend agricultural colleges in America. He said he was grateful for the great work of missionaries in his country and promised his continued interest and support.31 In the afternoon the royal party drove to Long Beach to tour oil wells and harbor installations, where the transient cargo sheds were the largest in world. They saw the new $40 million Richfield Refinery at Watson. Sinclair Oil, the parent organization of Richfield, had leases with the IEG to test for oil potentials in Ethiopia. The emperor anticipated the development of oil production in Ethiopia, so directional oil-well drilling as carried out in Long Beach captured his attention. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners made HIM an honorary pilot and presented him with a miniature ship’s wheel of Philippine mahogany and a book of photographs of the harbor bound in redwood. While on a tour of the world’s largest pier, Haile Selassie confessed to reporters that he had cultivated a taste for American milkshakes. Before driving to the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, where he would spend the night at Arrowhead Springs, the emperor received baskets of luscious fresh fruit and California-grown supreme dates picked in the nearby Coachella Valley. 32The Spring of the Lion 77 At this point in his travels in North America, the emperor made a singular stop in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The reason Haile Selassie went to this small town in the middle of the United States was to personally thank Oklahoma State University (then called Oklahoma A&M) for its work in assisting in modernizing agriculture and education in his nation under one of the first Point Four Programs. A dinner and reception for Haile Selassie and his 19-person entourage held at the college’s new student union building on June 18 was the social event of the year (and possibly of the century) in Oklahoma and signaled the ascent of Oklahoma A&M to the top ranks of U.S. universities involved in technical assistance and international education. It was the first visit to Oklahoma by a reigning foreign head of state. At the time, the emperor was 61 years of age; the state of Oklahoma, only 46 years old. The royal party had flown from the Ontario, California, International Airport to Stillwater aboard the Star of Bombay . The flight took about four hours, but the pilot, at the emperor’s request, had circled over Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam for 20 minutes. At 3:30 p.m. , the Star of Bombay landed at Stillwater’s Municipal Airport, where a crowd of 1,100—including national, state, and local dignitaries—was on hand to greet the emperor. It was a hot late spring day with a temperature near 100 degrees, and many women carried parasols. The Stars and Stripes and the tricolor banner of Ethiopia hung from two new flag poles erected for the occasion at the Searcy Field airport. The aircraft stairs were rolled out to the rear door of the plane, the official welcoming officials were poised in the heat at the foot of the stairs, and all was ready for a hearty greeting of the emperor. The A&M band played—and played—but no Conquering Lion of Judah appeared. Inside the plane, HIM had his eyes fixed on his country’s tricolor flapping in the breeze. The Okies had hung the flag upside down, reversing the three horizontal stripes of green, yellow, and red. The pilot of theStar of Bombay radioed the gaffe to the control tower. After a few minutes, the Ethiopian flag was lowered, reversed, and raised again. 33 HIM, assured that proper protocol had been followed, emerged from the plane dressed in a field marshal’s suntan dress uniform and gave a smart salute to his audience. He was officially welcomed by A&M’s president, Oliver Willham, Stillwater Mayor A. B. Alcott, and other officials. The emperor had requested an opportunity to see “an Indian,” and Acee Blue Eagle, a well-known Native American artist from Okmulgee, in full Pawnee headdress and buckskin clothing, presented Haile Selassie with a war bonnet and gave him the name “Great 78 The Lion of Judah in the New World Buffalo High Chief.” 34 Chief Blue Eagle evoked from the dead-panned emperor his most genuine smile of the Oklahoma trip. An impromptu press conference ensued with Haile Selassie praising the area’s cattle and grain production. He noted that modern coffee production in his country had been improved by the work of a number of scientists sent there under the Point Four Program. As a result of A&M’s effort, Ethiopia had been able to “benefit other nations.” Some 17 A&M deans, professors, and administrative officials and their wives had been assigned as escorts for the visitors. 35 They shepherded the royal party into convertibles provided by a local automobile dealer for the occasion and traveled to the A&M campus in a parade of Buicks. The leather car seats were quite hot because the autos had been sitting for an hour in direct sunlight. 36 The guests took a quick tour of the library and classroom building, where they were shown original blueprints of the proposed Imperial Agricultural College, before going to their rooms at the “fashionable Student Union hotel.” 37 A&M’s new Student Union was described as “the Waldorf Astoria of Student Unions.” The emperor and his entourage stayed in the Presidential Suite, the entire third floor of the hotel. A snack bar was set up for the visitors on the fourth floor, and Prince Sahle had a jukebox in his room, 38 where he enjoyed listening to records of Frank Sinatra and other swooncrooners and occidental moaner-chanters. Prince Sahle also showed a fondness for the union’s special-deluxe hot dogs and ice cream sundaes.39 He and Acee Blue Eagle had both studied at Oxford, so the prince and the Pawnee chief enjoyed visiting about their student days. At six in the evening, 300 guests were invited to a formal dinner in the Student Union that had been festooned with Ethiopian, U.S., and Oklahoma flags. The invitation list was a who’s who of the Oklahoma power elite of the time. Among the guests were U.S. Senator Robert S. Kerr, Representative Carl Albert and other congressmen, Governor Johnston E. Murray, Lieutenant Governor James E. Berry, state legislators, mayors of six Oklahoma cities, the board of regents for Oklahoma A&M College and the Oklahoma state regents for higher education, 16 college and university presidents, A&M administrators, faculty, students, alumni, and business leaders and ministers from Stillwater. 40 Extra security guards were posted around the union building to protect the royal family and to help direct guests to their proper destinations. 41 In his after dinner welcoming speech, Governor Murray mangled the pronunciation of Ethiopia, calling it “Oklamopia,” 42 but he praised Haile Selassie as “a symbol of the spark of freedom.” 43 President Willham presented His Imperial Majesty with a scroll expressing respect The Spring of the Lion 79 and sincere admiration for Haile Selassie. The college gave the emperor a bronze plaque, given “in behalf of the citizens of Oklahoma,” commemorating A&M’s successful program of technical assistance and economic cooperation. The plaque read as follows: The Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts was founded through the devoted interest and zeal of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, and his ministers with the advisement and cooperation of the Oklahoma A&M college in the interest of and welfare of the people of Ethiopia in the year 1952a.d.44 Haile Selassie subsequently had the plaque mounted in the cornerstone of the administration building at the new Alemaya campus, where it is still on display today. The emperor gave citations and gold medals to three university officials and made them officers of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia. Ambassador Simonson summarized the festive dinner by observing incorrectly that in the Amharic language something that was superlative was described as “ ishi .” Said Simonson, “This, in Amharic, is a veryishi occasion.” 45 Ishi means “okay,” not a superlative. Those present might disagree with Simonsen’s unintended understated evaluation. After the dinner program, the emperor joined Governor Murray and President Willham and their wives in a receiving line to greet some 1,600 guests who were invited to a reception in the student union ballroom in honor of Haile Selassie. 46 After the first hour, those in attendance were asked to leave in order for the remainder of the guests to be able to get into the room. 47 Upon completing his handshaking ordeal, the emperor took a seat on a huge chair in the banquet room—A&M’s best approximation of a throne. Newspaper reporters present described Haile Selassie as “stern and dignified,” “a solemn but friendly man” “with the face of an aesthete.” 48 The emperor, again in a brief talk, expressed his thanks to A&M: I have made an exception to my usual practice on this trip in leaving my itinerary entirely and making this 2,000 mile trip in order to express to you my deep appreciation. This trip has given me the opportunity to visit a truly great agricultural and mechanical college. What I have seen here this afternoon has confirmed my conviction in the enormous possibilities which lie as yet still to be uncovered in Ethiopia. 4980 The Lion of Judah in the New World When the reception came to an end at 10:00 p.m ., Haile Selassie held a private audience with members of the family of the late Henry G. Bennett—a measure of the high regard in which the emperor held the former A&M president and Point Four director, who had tragically been killed in an airplane crash in Iran while on a tour of Point Four projects.50 In a photograph taken at the audience, HIM holds one of Bennett’s granddaughters in his lap—a very rare picture of a relaxed Haile Selassie holding a child. Even with his own family, the emperor was not publicly seen or much less photographed with a child on his lap. During the night following the dinner, the emperor suffered an upset stomach and had to have medical attention. Stillwater physician George Gathers was called at about 3:30 a.m. He and the emperor conversed in French, and the doctor “administered opiates and sulfa drugs and advised the emperor to get more rest.” For his services, Gathers was paid with a solid gold medallion commemorating the emperor’s coronation. 51 The dinner and reception were the biggest social events in A&M’s history. 52 The attire for those attending was “strictly formal: “black ties and dark tuxedo coats for men (white jackets were acceptable for the dinner); formal dinner dresses either “ballerina or full length” for the ladies. Local merchants reported that tuxedo rentals exceeded all demands previously set by fraternity parties, and clothing stores in Oklahoma City and Tulsa reported a brisk business in formal attire. Tulsa newspaper columnist Roger Devlin reported that the “faint, tangy aroma which hung over the banquet hall was moth balls.” 53 ¡VIVA MÉXICO! VIVA ETIOPIA! On Saturday morning, the royal party left Stillwater at 7:45 a.m. for Mexico City and a five-day state visit. They were met at a new multimillion dollar airport by the President of Mexico, Ruiz Cortines, and his cabinet. The president walked up to the aircraft stairs and shook hands with the emperor. “My people have asked me to tell you that they are with Your Imperial Highness and the great Ethiopian people,” said Corines. HIM was visibly touched by the warm welcome extended to him. It was the first time an emperor of Ethiopia had set foot in Latin America. 54 Thousands of people cried “Viva Etiopia!” and cheered the emperor on route to his hotel along streets lined with army troops, 10,000 of whom were on duty for the official welcome. 55 The royals’ motorcade was accompanied by a mounted honor guard of cadets from the Colegio Militas. Throughout their visit, the Ethiopian The Spring of the Lion 81 ambassador to Mexico translated Spanish speeches into Amharic for the emperor and the royal party. Another granddaughter of HIM, Princess Sofia Desta, the younger sister of Princess Seble, joined the party in Mexico City from London, where she was studying. 56 Haile Selassie took part in a solemn ceremony with the presidential guard at the towering Columna de la Independencia, or victory column. At the base of the column was a large statue of a Lion led by a child. Nearby, the Lion of Judah laid a wreath at the freedom statue. The royals visited the palatial Castle of Chapultepec with its monument to the boy heroes killed during the Mexican-American War in 1847. It was from the Battle of Chapultepec and the subsequent occupation of Mexico City by American forces that the line “From the Halls of Montezuma” in the U.S. Marine Hymn is derived. 57 With the mayor of Mexico City, the royal party saw the traffic circle Plaza Etiopia. The mayor explained that during the fascist occupation of Ethiopia, Mexico refused to recognize Italy’s claim to Abyssinia and had named the plaza in honor of HIM’s valiant country. The emperor was quite moved by this gesture and promised to repay this honor. The creation of Mexico Square in Addis Ababa was the result of this exchange. Mexican culture was on display for the visitors at rancho de La Tapatia, where they saw a bullfight, a rodeo, an exhibition by national horsemen, and a dance performance. Afterwards, Haile Selassie was given a very wide-brimmed Mexican sombrero. At the National Palace, the emperor was honored with a champagne lunch, during which the two heads of state exchanged titles and medals. President Cortines presented HIM with the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in the country. In return, the emperor gave Cortines the Most Exalted Order of the Queen of Sheba. To conclude the program, Mexican youth sang the Ethiopian national anthem in Amharic. At the striking, recently completed Ciudad Universitaria, the national autonomous university of Mexico, Haile Selassie gave the university a large photograph of himself. He told a gathering of the academic community that their campus was more beautiful than any university in the United States. The emperor presented the Greek Orthodox Church of Santa Sofia a special carpet woven in Ethiopia. The priest’s homily delivered in Greek was translated into French for HIM. The Defender of the Faith also paid visits to the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest and oldest catholic cathedral in the Americas; the enormous Basilica de Nuestra Senorna de Guadalupe (Saint Mary’s), where, according to tradition, the celebrated Catholic image of the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared on the cloak of a peasant 82 The Lion of Judah in the New World in 1531 (the emperor made a gift to the shrine of a decorative Persian rug); and the 16-century Monastery Church of Saint Augustine with its elegant façade at Acolman where, according to myth, the first man was placed after being taken out of nearby Lake Texoco (would this be competition to early humanoid claims of the Omo River Valley in Ethiopia?). The royals also traveled 25 miles to the Aztec pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacán, “the place where gods were born,” an appropriate destination for a monarch deified by Rastafarians. In a ceremony at the Old Palace, “Palacio de Ayuntamiento,” Mexico City’s town hall, Haile Selassie gave the city gifts of elephant tusks, spears, and a shield. In Greater Mexico City, the royal party visited a modern steel factory and the public Hospital de la Raza, part of the ubiquitous Mexican health-care program IMSS, built at a cost of U.S. $4.5 million. The hospital uniquely featured spectacular frescos in its lobby by Mexican artists David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera. A diplomatic reception for the emperor was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The largest formal event of the trip to Mexico was the state banquet honoring HIM, hosted by President Cortines at the National Palace. The royals went to Cuernavaca, “the city of eternal Spring,” for a two-day respite. There, the movie-buff emperor enjoyed meeting Cantinflas, the comedian and film star, known as the Charlie Chaplin of Mexico. The roster of motion picture actor-acquaintances of Haile Selassie had grown considerably since Hollywood film star Tyrone Power had been a guest of the emperor in Addis Ababa in 1947 (just after he had completed filming the film noir “Nightmare Alley”). 58 Film star Robert Wagner, who HIM had met on this trip, also later visited Haile Selassie in the palace. 59 On June 25, 1954, Haile Selassie was seen off at the airport by President Cortines and a cheering multitude of Mexican well-wishers. The emperor gave a final sharp salute to the guard of honor before boarding theStar of Bombay and flying to New Orleans. THE DEEP SOUTH The red and white TWA plane arrived at New Orleans’ Moisant International Airport with an enthusiastic crowd of 1,000 on hand to welcome the royal guests. When a 21-gun salute started and HIM, wearing a khaki field marshal uniform highlighted by red and gold lapels, gave a smart salute at the doorway of the plane, “into his eyes came an expression which made him look every inch the ruler”—wrote a reporter of the scene. After another prolonged military salute during the The Spring of the Lion 83 playing of the Ethiopian national anthem, the emperor boarded a yellow convertible and led a parade of open cars down historic Canal Street, with presidents or representatives of the seven principal business organizations and civic bodies that formed a citizens’ reception committee. Spectators along the way cheered and waved. 60 Centuries-old precedents and prejudices were shattered or ignored when the Deep South metropolis straddling the Mississippi River entertained and honored Haile Selassie. In a lively 26-hour program, the emperor saw more of New Orleans than many residents do in a lifetime. His visit initiated an unheard of display of racial tolerance, in which ancient segregation laws were forgotten. Although threatening telephone calls had been made to the Roosevelt Hotel, where the monarch occupied the International Suite, and to city hall and International House protesting the planned courtesies for the royal party, the elaborate schedule was carried out without an untoward incident. The hotel management reported more than 500 menacing calls. All were ignored, as were the others. Officials believed that all the calls stemmed from an organized source. Despite 90-degree heat, HIM moved with enthusiasm and interest in the “most unique” city in America. 61 On the day of their arrival in “The City that Care Forgot,” one of the few public sour notes about the emperor during his American tour was sent out on the wires of United Press (now United Press International). Congressman Usher L. Burdick (R-ND), who had vociferously opposed U.S. action in the Korean War, wrote a letter to his constituents, lashing out at Haile Selassie as a “perfectly ruthless dictator” who was trying to get U.S. aid under the guise of a democracy. In a racist, anti-foreign-aid diatribe, Burdick accused Haile Selassie of engaging in “a huge slave traffic.” According to the congressman, during World War II, “Natives from the jungles were rounded up and driven like cattle to the slave markets operated by Selassie.” Echoing Mussolini’s fascists, Burdick asserted that the emperor’s “antics indicated that he was an absolute and ruthless dictator, who had all the barbarous instincts of a complete savage.” The sources of Burdick’s information were not cited, but the letter was published in theLos Angeles Times and other UP-licensed print outlets. 62 Haile Selassie was the guest of honor at an official meeting of the city council at city hall, during which all members of the royal party were made honorary citizens of New Orleans and were given golden keys to city (HIM’s was solid gold). Mayor deLesseps S. Morrison greeted the emperor in French, and Haile Selassie presented the mayor with two battle spears and a war shield. HIM said he knew of the “worldwide 84 The Lion of Judah in the New World reputation” of New Orleans and was proud to accept its citizenship. In the racially segregated Big Easy, the monarch held a precedentshattering press conference in the mayor’s private office during which he commented freely on the need for human equality in the world. He cited the Supreme Court’s Brown decision as being “in accord with the Constitution and one which would give the U.S. greater prestige in the world.” HIM again praised the virtues of collective security and emphasized that “if the smaller nations are heard by the General Assembly (of the UN), the peace will be surer.” The emperor was interviewed in French and quoted in the local newspapers in that languageOn parle la Paix . The monarch said he wastres content with New Orleans. The “gracious, easy-mannered” Prince Sahle told reporters that he had heard about New Orleans’ fried chicken, shrimp, and hot jazz and wanted to investigate all of them. 63 The royal party and city officials proceeded to Dillard University in open cars. There, the emperor received a citation in the presence of probably the largest mixed assemblage in New Orleans history up until that time. At a social reception at the home of university president A. W. Dent, “scores of the city’s principal white business leaders mixed with prominent local Negroes in honoring Haile Selassie.” The formal reception and state dinner that evening at New Orleans’ International House was much more a racially segregated affair with 1,600 mainly white guests lining up to pay homage to HIM. The Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, Port Authority, City of New Orleans, Green Coffee Association, International House, International Trade Mart, and Greater New Orleans Inc., acted as hosts. White dinner jackets were de rigueur for the men present. The royal guests were toasted with champagne, and the emperor received a silver bowl from shipping magnate and chairman of the Citizens’ Reception Committee, R. S. Hecht, who had visited Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa two years earlier. HIM added Mayor Morrison and Louisiana Governor Robert F. Kennon to the decorated initiates of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia. In the dining room, the emperor was presented with a handsome café brûlot set as a typical New Orleans gift, an apt present for the ruler of the country where, according to tradition, coffee originated. 64 On Friday morning, the royal party, accompanied by Morrison and Kennon, had about a 30-mile tour of the city’s chief residential sections and city park region, viewing some of the $60 million street and railroad improvement system of recent years. The tour ended at Eads Plaza (now the Spanish Plaza) at the end of Canal Street, where they boarded the yachtGood Neighbor for an inspection of the harbor and the famous Port of New Orleans as guests of the port commission. On board, they The Spring of the Lion 85 enjoyed a buffet luncheon with the city’s principal business leaders, hosted by Governor Kennon, a vigorous critic of the Brown decision, who had left legislative matters in Baton Rouge to drive to New Orleans to meet Haile Selassie. The emperor told him about Ethiopia’s regaining access to the sea only two years earlier. As the Good Neighbor passed the Algiers Naval Station, a 21-gun salute boomed forth, and the station’s personnel, dressed in white, lined the decks of four ships at the wharf. The royal party went to Loyola University, where they were welcomed by Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel to a gathering of representatives of New Orleans’ institutions of higher education. HIM exchanged gifts with representatives of the five colleges and universities in the area. Doris Anderson, the wife of a U.S. serviceman at the time, attended the gathering and remembers Haile Selassie being surrounded by African Americans who were “thrilled to see HIM.” 65 Prince Sahle and the royal princesses became real Crescent City tourists for an hour on this final day of their visit when they slipped off from the official farewells being said for a quick tour of the historic French Quarter. 66 At 4:30 in the afternoon, the royal party flew to Fort Benning, Georgia, the home of the U.S. Army Infantry Training School, where they were the dinner guests of the infantry center commander, Major Gen. Joseph H. Harper. In a morning ceremony, HIM was officially welcomed with a 21-gun salute and a parade of an honor guard of crack troops and an 80-piece army band. The emperor was briefed on school operations, “witnessed an airborne demonstration which he mentioned as being especially impressive,” and observed an infantry-tank team in an attack, a mighty display of military might. Prince Sahle and the royal princesses rode in an M-47 tank equipped with a 90-mm gun. The princesses visited a Girl Scout day camp and a Women’s Army Corps (WAC) detachment and took a buddyseat parachute jump before having lunch with fort commanders’ wives. At an official luncheon hosted by the commanding officer, the emperor bestowed Order of the Star of Ethiopia on Harper and two other officials of Fort Benning and presented an ivory trophy to the infantry school “as a symbol of the contribution of Fort Benning toward strengthening the forces for the defense of world peace through collective security within the charter of the United Nations.” Noting that there were then two Ethiopian officers enrolled in the infantry school, HIM expressed great confidence in his countrymen who trained there. In remarks at the luncheon, Haile Selassie said the following: The new arms and techniques which you are developing here, and of which you have given today such a magnificent demonstration 86 The Lion of Judah in the New World are, under an agreement concluded last year between Ethiopia and the United States, now being made available to my country. This association is a source of great pride and satisfaction to me and to my people. Moreover, our comradeship with you in arms under conditions of actual combat in Korea has already served for us, in far greater measure than for you, as another Fort Benning. Thanks to the Mutual Security Agreement, it will be possible for the Ethiopian soldier . . . to continue with you a comradeship in arms dedicated to the defense of collective security. 67 Before taking off for New York in the Star of Bombay in midafternoon, the militarily attired ruler expressed “tremendous satisfaction” with his visit to Fort Benning. The royal party touched down at La Guardia on the night of June 26 and was driven to the Waldorf Astoria, where most of them would stay until July 14, when they would begin the journey back to Ethiopia. The party arrived at the hotel at 8:00p.m . A State Department spokesman told reporters that the official phase of HIM’s and the royal party’s tour was over as of that hour and they were to be considered from then on as “private citizens.” 68 WORKING WHILE RESTING AND RELAXING AT THE WALDORF ASTORIA With the formal visit ended, the emperor could relax with his son and granddaughters and enjoy the cultural and entertainment treats that New York City offered. But first, he went to the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center for a routine checkup. He spent three days there for a general examination. 69 No news story about Haile Selassie during his stay in North America had wider coverage in the U.S. small-town press than the brief UP article about the emperor being declared to be in good health by the New York physicians upon his discharge from the hospital. The American public was concerned about the well-being of the little king whom they had come to admire. Perhaps to demonstrate that he was feeling well on the day of his release from Columbia-Presbyterian, Haile Selassie paid a surprise late afternoon visit to the Bronx Zoo. During his hour’s stay, the “usually stern-visaged little monarch who seldom is seen to laugh in public, did for once, and appeared to enjoy himself hugely.” 70 The emperor laughed heartedly when one of the attendants staged a wrestling act with Oka, the Lady Gorilla. He smiled as he petted a tiger cub and baby jaguars. HIM was, of course, no newcomer to being around big The Spring of the Lion 87 cats—even as cubs. His menagerie at Jubilee Palace always included African roaring cats. After making a complete tour of the zoo, the emperor said he especially enjoyed viewing fish in the aquarium, a 20-foot python in the reptile cage, baboons (who frequent many parts of Ethiopia), and penguins partaking of a late afternoon snack. He enjoyed everything but the weather, which he found too hot. When reporters inquired about the results of his medical checkup, the emperor said they were “very satisfactory.” While Haile Selassie was enjoying R & R in Manhattan, other members of his entourage were back in Washington, DC, attempting to make firm what each side thought had been agreed to during the meetings of the emperor with Eisenhower and other U.S. foreign policy makers. In a series of meetings at the State Department, Aklilou Habte Wold, Ethiopian Foreign Minister; Ambassador Yilma; and John Spencer presented the Ethiopian perspective to Secretary Dulles, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Byroade, and Utter, representing the U.S. Government. On July 2, the foreign minister reiterated the requests the emperor had left with the president in his departing memorandum and the assurance the president had given HIM that they would be given sympathetic consideration. The Ethiopians were disappointed with the generally negative answers they had received to the requests for economic, military, and technical aid. According to the foreign minister, upon hearing the lack of positive U.S. responses, the emperor had been so deeply depressed he had been on the verge of leaving the country immediately, without awaiting the outcome of final talks scheduled for July 7. Byroade remarked that he had been under the impression that the foreign minister understood that the talks they were engaged in should be in no way tied to the emperor’s visit to the United States. The imperial trip, Byroade continued, “had been an outstanding success, and it would be too bad to have the Emperor’s evident pleasure at the ovation he received throughout the country marred by disgruntlement at not receiving satisfaction in requests which he put forward to the U.S. Government.” Byroade concluded that he would be opposed in the future to the visit of any chief of state from the areas he was responsible for “until it was clearly understood that the visit was only for goodwill and entailed no requests for help.” The foreign minister assured the group that the emperor would not depart before hearing the outcome of the final discussion on July 7. 71 Despite that rather gloomy ending to the meeting, both sides continued to work behind the scenes in preparation for the concluding bilateral talk. 88 The Lion of Judah in the New World On the seventh, the emperor, the epitome of sangfroid, went to the Museum of Natural History with his youngest son and two granddaughters. They inspected Akeley Hall of African Mammals, where they were pleased to see an Ethiopian Mountain Nyala, the last of the great African antelopes to become known to science. In Brontosaur Hall they saw skeletal forms of ancient reptiles, and in Whitney Hall of Pacific Birds, they marveled at “brilliant feathered creatures.” The grand finale of the visit was a heavenly display staged for the special benefit of the emperor in the Hayden Planetarium. 72 On the same afternoon Haile Selassie saw the heavens open, his stars were in better alignment in Washington. In a final meeting at the State Department between the principal diplomats of the two nations, Assistant Secretary Byroade expressed his appreciation to the Ethiopian foreign minister for taking additional time to work on the problems coming out of their previous conversations. He said he hoped the foreign minister better understood “the complicated nature of the U.S. Government.” 73 Explained Byroade, “We had no doubts about the potentialities of a program of aid to the Ethiopian Government. Unfortunately, not even the President himself can act without legislative authority. What we have suggested is in the opinion of all interested American officials the best we can do.” The State Department officials noted that the United States had many commitments throughout the world, and Congress was imposing increasingly stringent conditions and procedures on foreign assistance. “When we refer to the possibility of help from lending agencies—governmental, private, international—it is simply because they are the only means for help available,” said Byroade. “We have given the best response possible, and where there is any prospect of help we are continuing to study the case.” It was not the definitive answer to his requests the emperor had wanted, but it was not a flat refusal and left the door ajar for further negotiations. Haile Selassie and his foreign minister could continue working in such a situation—especially with Kagnew Station an incentive to keep the Americans interested. The next day, the emperor went to the police—or at least the New York City Police Headquarters. Police Commissioner Francis W. H. Adams greeted HIM and escorted the monarch into a darkened room to watch the morning questioning of prisoners who stood on a lighted platform. The emperor also toured the crime-detection laboratories, the identification bureau, and a museum in the police academy. In the communications bureau, Haile Selassie communicated with a patrol car by radio. 74 This was the last highly reported activity of the monarch’s stay in the United States. The Spring of the Lion 89 During his final week in New York, Haile Selassie traveled to Jones Beach Marine Theater, where he enjoyed a performance of the musical “Arabian Nights.” Before the performance, he ate a hot dog with the show’s star, heldentenor Lauritz Melchior, and producer–orchestra leader Guy Lombardo. 75 On their last evening in the country, the emperor, Prince Sahle, and the two princesses went to Ridgefield, Connecticut, to dine with Richard E. Southard, former minister to Ethiopia. 76 On July 12, Haile Selassie left by air from Idlewild with planned stops in Yugoslavia, France, and Greece before returning to Ethiopia. The emperor said he found the United States even greater than he had expected. He thanked President Eisenhower and the people of America for a memorable visit and said he was leaving with regret and would return if he possibly could do so. The monarch showed “ intense feeling” while speaking through an interpreter. Seeing HIM off were General C. L. Bolte, deputy chief of staff of the Army, representing Eisenhower, Simmons, Patterson, and Warren Lee Pierson, Chairman of the Board of TWA. 77 On the following day, the New York Times ran an eloquent farewell editorial, “Lion of Judah”: It is commonly believed that we Americans are deeply impressed by titles. Perhaps we are, but when it comes to choosing our friends we look behind the title to the man. In the case of the Emperor Haile Selassie . . . we would respect the man even without the title. It is correct to call Haile Selassie His Imperial Majesty, but if he were plain Mr., he would still be a man of courage, intelligence and great humanity. . . . Good wishes will follow the Emperor as he wings his way home after traveling over our country from coast to coast, and these good wishes will extend to his countrymen. 78 The impact on Americans in meeting the emperor was eloquently described by Rabbi Harry J. Stern, who dined with HIM in Canada: “His presence in our midst evokes memories of historic pasts and breathes prayers within us all that peace prevail on earth and that nations great and small shall prosper and dwell in justice and brotherhood under the rule of the Supreme Father of all mankind.” The Rabbi’s brief interlude with Haile Selassie called to his mind the Song of David from the Psalms, “How good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity.” He concluded that “soon [in 1955] the Emperor will observe the 25th anniversary of his Coronation and all lovers of freedom will rejoice in the growth and advance of Ethiopia among the nations of the world.” 7990 The Lion of Judah in the New World His countrymen gave their little king a regal ovation when his plane arrived in Addis Ababa. Scores of thousands of Ethiopians jammed the streets to cheer and ululate as the emperor passed by in his open Rolls Royce. The monarch had scored a resounding public-relations triumph at home and abroad. As far as the Ethiopian people knew, HIM’s personal diplomacy had cemented an arms-for-base-rights agreement, with Ethiopia receiving weapons and a military training mission as well as economic aid and political support for union with Eritrea. Haile Selassie in his first public address after his return from the U.S. tour said that his reception in America “fully justified all my preconceptions of American friendship and hospitality.” 80 For its part, the United States had solidified its claim to Kagnew Station and access to a strategic locale on the rim of the Middle East. In the years following the emperor’s first call on North America, state visits became “an almost annual compulsion” for Haile Selassie. He seemed to enjoy his status as a celebrity and cultivated a strong international image through state visits to many parts of the world. HIM thrived upon international travel and the social activities that accompanied it. Being treated as a head of state, with all the indulgences and condescension that it entailed was an exhilarating experience. His international fame and acceptance grew. In October 1954 he toured Western Europe. In Great Britain, the emperor received the royal treatment he craved. He wore a cocked hat topped by a lion’s mane and rode in an open state landau with a household cavalry escort through London’s flag-bedecked streets and the mall decorated with tall ceremonial poles bearing replicas of the crown of Ethiopia. He was the first head of state to visit West Germany after the end of World War II. The emperor’s visit signaled the acceptance of West Germany back into the world, as a peaceful nation. He donated blankets manufactured in Ethiopia to the war-ravaged German people. 81 His subsequent state visits and official travel also would take HIM to South America and Asia. ENTR’ACTE The fruits of the emperor’s personal diplomacy with Eisenhower were harvested soon after their meeting in Washington. In FY 1956, the United States committed to $5 million for the Ethiopian Army, a naval patrol craft, and economic assistance amounting to under $5 million for “soundly conceived projects mutually agreed upon.” U.S. aid was tendered with a wary eye on possible security threats to Ethiopia: progressive young army officers along with young intellectuals The Spring of the Lion 91 and middle- and upper-class civil servants were dissatisfied with their place in society and were not optimistic about their future under the rule of HIM. But the IEG was in firm control of internal security. The Ethiopian government was dissatisfied, however, with the amount of U.S. aid and shifted toward a neutralist policy and the consideration of Soviet Bloc offers of economic aid. Indeed, in 1956, Soviet Bloc activity increased in the country. 82 At the same time, the U.S. Point Four program proved to be a strong tool for the emperor in developing provincial areas and knitting the people more closely to the central government. Haile Selassie took a personal interest in the programs and insisted upon the location of the new agricultural college in Alemaya; an agricultural secondary school in Jimma; a hospital and health center at Mekele; a health training center at Gondar; a nursing and vocational school at Asmara; teacher training schools at Harar, Debra Berhan, and Addis Ababa; and waterwell drilling in Eritrea and the southeast and southern border areas. At a National Security Council (NSC) meeting in November 1956, Eisenhower told Herbert Hoover Jr., acting secretary of state, “You have your ‘best drag’ in [Ethiopia] when you do something for the Emperor.” The president cited Haile Selassie’s being sold a Lockheed Constellation so he could overfly neighboring countries. Unfortunately, the plane crashed and burned two weeks after its delivery. Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson expressed skepticism about the United States taking on further obligations in Africa because he feared a power vacuum when the colonial powers left. The consensus of the meeting was that Africa could suddenly become very important to the United States. 83 In 1957, the emperor made a strong plea for substantially larger military assistance and requested aid to develop the IEG’s air force— importunities given some effect by world politics. The Eisenhower Doctrine had been ratified that year, making it clear that the United States reserved the right to intervene in the oil-rich Middle East if it perceived its vital interests were threatened. Radical Arab nationalist opposition to the West, especially in Egypt, had sharpened in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis in 1956, and this resulted in accelerated delivery of U.S. equipment and training under a Military Assistance Program (MAP) to Ethiopia. After the British departure from Ethiopia in 1951, the IEG Army had seriously deteriorated. The MAP improved the army’s potential and equipped units with U.S. weapons. Vice President Nixon visited Haile Selassie in March 1957. The emperor complained that Middle Eastern friends were criticizing the IEG 92 The Lion of Judah in the New World for supporting the United States in Korea and refusing to recognize the People’s Republic of China. Further, the IEG had supported the U.S. position during the Suez crisis and had voted for the UN resolution about Hungary. He pointed out that U.S. privileges in Ethiopia were granted for an extremely long period, but American military assistance was maintained on a purely year-to-year basis. Nixon replied that this discrepancy resulted from the U.S. executive branch being dependent on annual appropriations from congress. The vice president assured HIM that a close collaboration with the United States “was entirely possible on the basis of a fresh and frank approach to the problems.” In response, the emperor gave Nixon a shopping list of military and security items (a radio station “to offset radio Cairo and other insidious propaganda,” helicopters, and police equipment), most of which the United States delivered to HIM within a few months. 84 The pièce de résistance came in June 1958, however, when U.S. funds for twelve F-86 jet fighters were approved. Eisenhower’s decision to provide a modern weapon system that few other third world countries possessed reinforced Haile Selassie’s belief that the key to enhancing Ethiopia’s security as well as his own resided with the United States. 85 Nevertheless, Haile Selassie contended that U.S. military assistance was delivered too slowly and was not of the quality deemed appropriate, and in July 1959 he visited Moscow (being the first African head of state to visit the motherland of actual, existing socialism) and Prague. Lost in the razzmatazz of diplomatic duplicity and protocols of the Kremlin elders was Pravda’s harsh characterization of HIM not as the Lion of Judah but as the jackal of American imperialism. The unruffled IEG accepted Soviet Bloc aid of $100 million from the USSR (an amount far higher than what the United States had provided Ethiopia since the end of World War II) and $10 million from Czechoslovakia in longterm credits and embarked on a more neutralist foreign policy. 86 The CIA worried that these moves “might be the first major attempt by the Communist Bloc to penetrate into deeper parts of Africa.” It was possible too that Haile Selassie “in his quiet way was attempting to blackmail the United States.” There were even unconfirmed reports that the emperor had ordered the abrogation of the agreement that established Kagnew Station. “This, if true, could be extremely serious.” 87 In 1960, the emperor began what was already being called the Decade of Africa, confident that the United States would provide him with more and better military assistance or he would allow his new friends, the Soviets, to become more involved in key areas of his nation’s life such as the armed forces, communications, education, and The Spring of the Lion 93 land resettlement—a move anathema to the Cold War–obsessed West. Although the United States had thwarted, for the most part, Soviet efforts to break into America’s dominant role in the country, the USSR had recently opened and staffed a technical school in Bahar Dar. The former minister of foreign affairs, and now prime minister, Aklilou, requested U.S. financial assistance for a university (Ethiopia had only University College and the Imperial Agricultural College at that time) and arms and material for a fourth division of the Ethiopian Army. Eisenhower was enthusiastic about the university idea because he felt strongly that Africa should develop its own leaders at home. The president said he was less inclined to favor a buildup of armaments. Eisenhower thought the United States itself had too many, although he could not prove that thesis to his soldiers. 88 Early in his presidency, Eisenhower had talked about his preference for aid over arms. He told his son, John S. D. Eisenhower, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. . . . We pay for a single fighter plane with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed 8,000 people.” 89 Is it little wonder that Eisenhower gave a farewell presidential address warning of “a military-industrial complex” thriving on war and threat of war? 90 Eisenhower also made a memorable speech at the opening session of the 15th UN General Assembly on September 22, 1960, speaking to “the largest international galaxy of leaders ever assembled.” The president appealed to all nations to “work for a true world community” and to join in settling the world’s problems by negotiation and cooperation in the United Nations. He emphasized the need for new programs in Africa and expressed the hope that the Cold War might be kept out of that continent. Eisenhower envisioned a “consortium of African nations” to develop a sense of solidarity and prevent their domination by the big powers. 91 Unfortunately, the president’s eloquent tribute to the UN did not receive the attention it deserved because the media focused on subsequent controversial speeches and actions by the grandstanding Khrushchev and Castro, among others. Nevertheless, Eisenhower had delivered a gracious and profound valedictory about Africa and the UN and had suggested that the UN be the principal instrument of U.S. policy in Africa. While world attention was focused on the Congo, a new external threat haunted the emperor. Tensions along Ethiopia’s eastern border were building with a growing fear of Somali nationalism. The former 94 The Lion of Judah in the New World Italian and British colonies became independent on July 1. Haile Selassie, who was 68-years-old then, had an obsession with security and had not developed a fully satisfactory arrangement for dynastic succession. The monarch continued to hold the threat of Kagnew Station’s being in jeopardy if a substantial increase in U.S. grants for military assistance were not forthcoming. In the United States a presidential election in November would select a new chief executive. Would the new man continue the friendly relations with the increasingly cantankerous emperor? Was the era of good feeling between Ethiopia and the United States coming to an end?
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