The Lion of Judah in the New World: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans' Attitudes toward Africa

by Theodore M. Vestal

This insightful book relates how Emperor Haile Selassie helped shape America's image of Africa and how that image continues to evolve in the United States today.

The Lion of Judah in the New Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans' Attitudes toward Africa tells the story of a dynamic ruler who influenced the perception of an entire continent. Documenting the Emperor's state visits to North America, the book explores U.S. foreign policy towards Ethiopia and Africa over two decades. At the same time, it seeks to understand why Haile Selassie enjoyed such celebrity in the United States and how he became so important in determining U.S. attitudes toward Africa.

The book includes a brief biography of the Emperor and also explores the geography and long, colorful history of Ethiopia. The tensions and contradictions that marked Haile Selassie's life are highlighted in significant episodes that underscore his astute use of public relations and personal diplomacy. His leadership of postcolonial Africa during the Cold War is examined, as is his ultimate rejection by the United States in 1973 that marked the end of the monarchy and ushered in the tragic fratricide of Ethiopian civil war.

Genres: Ethiopia, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2011

About the author

Theodore M. "Ted" Vestal is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Oklahoma State University, where for twenty years he taught courses on world politics and constitutional law emphasizing civil liberties and civil rights. In 1964-1966 he served as a Peace Corps executive in Ethiopia and has maintained an academic interest in the country ever since. He was President of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and has served overseas as a director of Peace Corps/Ethiopia, New York's Educational Resources Center in New Delhi, and OSU-Kyoto. Vestal attended the University of North Texas, Yale Law School, and Stanford, where he received a Ph.D. in Political Science. He lives in Tulsa with wife, Patricia, who is an artist, and who taught painting at the Creative Arts Center of Haile Selassie I University.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, nuanced, detailed account of the Emperor Haile Selassie's many visits to the US. The author does a nice job building a historical context for each visit, and he makes a strong case that the Emperor's visits affected race relations in the US as well as the American imperial psyche in the aftermath of WWII. It's hard to find such a detailed account of the emperor that is not steeped in legend or propaganda, so I appreciated that Vestal took pains to honestly describe the political and social realities in Ethiopia. A good read for those who are interested in modern Ethiopian history.

[Pinel Getu · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. the author tries to narrate the foreign diplomatic relationship Ethiopia had with the USA during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I. The king believed a more effective approach in dealing with foreign relations is personal diplomacy, he discussed such matters in person face-to-face with the heads of State. The author also tries to detail the official state visits made by HIM to the USA at different times with different Presidents such As John.F Kennedy, Nixon & Eisenhower, and the discussion and agreements reached regarding military, economical, and educational support given by the USA in return for military base at Kagnew Station. I was able to learn from reading this book that the king truly believed that the only way our country could handle both security and economic challenges/goals was with the help of developed foreign countries, especially the USA. So his majesty continually tries to leverage access to the military bases for the Americans and not join the eastern block as a way to get more military and economic aid. while I admire the efforts his majesty made to keep the country's Territorial integrity and economic progress, I do wish deeply for a time when we Africans don't have to beg for anything and be self-sufficient in food, military equipment, economic development, and technology. It is really heartbreaking to see your ruler desperately wandering and searching for help in an attempt to keep his country intact.