A Familiar Frontier: The Kennedy Administration in the Congo ...

evidence that either Kennedy or his advisers seriously considered the possibility of killingany of the numerous leaders, including Gizenga, Tshombe or Ileo, who caused the UnitedStates trouble from time to time. The CIA did not even inform Kennedy of its old planswhen his Administration took office in January 1961, even though Lumumba was inenemy hands by that point. Indeed, the CIA was not particularly active in the Congoduring Kennedy’s presidency, despite his eagerness to use their skills in other crisis areas.It should be noted that the CIA has sometimes been implicated in the plane crash thatkilled Dag Hammarskjold in September 1961, but such accounts are not credible.At first glance, it is difficult to know what to make of this major discrepancy inCongo policy between two Administrations whose objectives will be shown to have beenso similar. Kennedy, after all, demonstrated a willingness to use assassination to dealwith problematic leaders in Cuba and South Vietnam. One must come to the conclusionthat Kennedy eschewed politically-motivated murder in the Congo not out a sense ofmorality, but because it did not fit his needs. The situation was dramatically differentwhen the Kennedy Administration took office, as Lumumba had been taken prisoner,and, it was later revealed, killed, just before Kennedy’s Inauguration. The United Statesemerged largely unscathed after the revelation of Lumumba’s death, but more suspiciousdeaths would have undoubtedly increased scrutiny of American actions. 52 This was anunacceptable situation for a President whose reputation was based on the support of otherAfrican states.The situation changed dramatically on September 5, although it was notimmediately clear what effect the shift would have on U.S. interests. President Kasavubu52 Kalb, The Congo Cables, 23632