Office of the Historian

75. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Dillon to President Eisenhower0

September 23, 1960.

SUBJECT

  • Recognition of the Republic of Mali and Letters to Chiefs of State of Senegal and Mali1

As a result of the party conference held in Bamako yesterday, the Soudanese Government has decided to adopt the name of Republic of Mali and to withdraw the powers previously granted to the Federation of Mali. By tacitly admitting that the Federation no longer exists, the Soudanese have facilitated our recognition of the two separate countries. Since your previous recognition was extended to the Federation of Mali, it is now in our interest to extend recognition to the Republic of Mali. Accordingly I recommend that you authorize recognition of the Republic of Mali at the same time as recognition is extended to the Republic of Senegal.

I also suggest that you respond to previous communications from President Modibo Keita of Mali2 and Prime Minister Mamadou Dia.3 Since at the time these were received we had not yet taken a position on recognition, these communications were merely acknowledged by the respective posts. I now recommend that you write to the Chiefs of State of the two countries. As far as Mali is concerned, we are particularly anxious to avoid a repetition of the Guinean experience. A letter from you to Modibo Keita assuring him of our desire to cooperate with Mali would be extremely helpful at this critical point. The text of a suggested letter is enclosed.4 Since we do not want to seem to favor one of the former members of the Mali Federation over the other, I am [Page 227] also enclosing a suggested letter to President Senghor of Senegal (who has since replaced Mamadou Dia as Chief of State).5

If you agree, the Department will transmit the text of these letters by telegram to be delivered by our posts in Dakar and Bamako, if possible at the time they announce your decision.6 I do not recommend publication of this correspondence but suggest that the initiative on publication be left to the Africans.

Douglas Dillon7
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770E.02/9–2360. No classification marking. Drafted by Thomas A. Cassilly of the Office of West African Affairs.↩
  2. A memorandum of September 19 from Dillon to the President had recommended recognition of the Republic of Senegal; a marginal note indicates that John Eisenhower had informed the Department of the President’s approval on September 20. The memorandum stated that the situation was complicated by the fact that the Soudanese Government claimed that the Mali Federation was still in existence. (Ibid., 611.70T/9–1960)↩
  3. A message of August 25 from Keita to Eisenhower, urging against any recognition of Senegal, is filed with a covering memorandum of August 27 from Director of the Department of State Executive Secretariat John A. Calhoun to Goodpaster. (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Project Clean Up, Africa—Republics)↩
  4. A message of August 20 from Dia to Eisenhower, declaring Senegal’s independence and requesting recognition, is filed with a covering memorandum of August 24 from Satterthwaite to Dillon. (Department of State, Central Files, 770E.02/8–2460)↩
  5. The letter stated that the President had decided to announce U.S. recognition of the Republic of Mali and that it would serve no useful purpose to delay further recognition of Senegal. It assured Keita of U.S. interest in cordial relations with Mali and desire to cooperate in its future development, and stated that pending the arrival of an ambassador in Bamako, Consul John Gunther Dean would serve as Chargé d’Affaires.↩
  6. The letter stated that the President had decided to announce U.S. recognition of the Republic of Senegal, and it assured Senghor of U.S. interest in cordial relations with Senegal and desire to cooperate in its future development. It stated that he proposed to appoint Henry Villard as Ambassador to Senegal and that, in the meantime, Roswell D. McClelland would serve as Chargé d’Affaires. (Villard had been appointed Ambassador to the Federation of Mali, but the Federation had broken up before his arrival at post.)↩
  7. A marginal note on the memorandum indicates that John Eisenhower informed the Department of the President’s approval on September 23. The messages to Keita and Senghor, both dated September 23, were transmitted in telegram 29 to Bamako and telegram 201 to Dakar, both dated September 23. (Department of State, Central Files, 770E.02/9–2360 and 770T.02/9–2360, respectively) The text of a White House press release of September 24 announcing U.S. recognition of the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Senegal is printed in Department of State Bulletin, October 10, 1960, p. 567.↩
  8. Printed from a copy that bears this stamped signature.↩