Press Release

Office of the Historian
Bureau of Public Affairs
United States Department of State
December 16, 2013

The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXIII, Congo, 1960–1968.

This volume is part of a Foreign Relations subseries that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of President Lyndon B. Johnson. However, this volume also includes documentation on U.S. foreign policy toward Congo-Léopoldville during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. It is therefore a retrospective, composite volume, which covers U.S. policy in Congo-Léopoldville from March 1960 through December 1968. It should be read as a supplement to Foreign Relations, 1958–1960, Volume XIV, Africa, and Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume XX, Congo Crisis.

The first part of the volume, covering 1960–1963, documents the chaotic nature of the Congo crisis and the pervasive influence of covert U.S. Government policies in the newly independent nation designed to install a pro-Western regime and limit Soviet influence. The second part of the volume, covering 1964–1968, chronicles the evolution of U.S. policy towards Congo-Léopoldville. It documents the continuation of covert political action programs, the U.S. role in providing paramilitary and air support, and efforts to develop a more strategic long-term approach to U.S. relations.

The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v23. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Printing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02630-9 ISBN 978-0-16-082002-1), or by calling toll-free 1–866–512–1800 (D.C. area 202–512–1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.