ABSTRACT
Until 1937, foreign policy towards Africa was planned through the Division of European Affairs at the Department of State (DoS) to ensure consistency with the main priorities, needs and interests of the colonial powers. Coined by Kennedy's Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen Williams, Africa for the Africans was a statement that not only mirrored the various objectives of US policy under Kennedy, but also the realisation that America needed a more independent and direct policy on Africa. It implied that Africa should remain neutral in the Cold War without alluding to or stating this directly. Without Kennedy at the helm, the African policy fell behind more pressing issues during, namely, the growing crisis in Indochina and the increasing involvement of America in Vietnam. This chapter traces the importance of US development assistance policies toward Africa to fight the Cold War from the Truman through to the Reagan administrations.
