Foreign Relations of the United States

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-L opoldville 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-L opoldville 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-L opoldville. 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.