Theodore M. Vestal

author of The Lion of Judah in the New World: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans' Attitudes Toward Africa

November 4, 2015

Theodore M. (Ted) Vestal, PhD, is professor emeritus of political science at OSU, where for twenty years he taught courses on world politics and constitutional law emphasizing civil liberties and civil rights. Vestal went to Ethiopia as a Peace Corps executive in 1964 and has maintained a scholarly interest in that fascinating country and its people ever since. He also served overseas as director of New York's Educational Resources Center in New Delhi and of OSU-Kyoto. He is the author of Praeger's International Education (1994), Ethiopia: A Post-Cold War African State (1999), and The Eisenhower Court and Civil Liberties (2002), as well as some seventy published articles and book chapters about Ethiopia. Since 1996, he served as an expert witness in over 115 political asylum cases of Ethiopians and Eritreans. In September 2002, the Theodore M. Vestal Collection, with a heavy emphasis on materials about Ethiopia was formally dedicated at the OSU Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. In 2005, Dr. Vestal served as Hiob Ludolf Endowed Professor in Current Issues of Ethiopian Studies at Hamburg University. In 1994, he testified before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, U.S. House of Representatives on "Ethiopia: The Challenges Ahead."

This insightful book relates how Emperor Haile Selassie helped shape America's image of Africa and how that image continues to evolve in the United States today. It tells the story of a dynamic ruler who influenced the perception of an entire continent. Documenting the Emperor's state visits to North America, the book explores U.S. foreign policy towards Ethiopia and Africa over two decades. At the same time, it seeks to understand why Haile Selassie enjoyed such celebrity in the United States and how he became so important in determining U.S. attitudes toward Africa. The book includes a brief biography of the Emperor and also explores the geography and long, colorful history of Ethiopia. The tensions and contradictions that marked Haile Selassie's life are highlighted in significant episodes that underscore his astute use of public relations and personal diplomacy. His leadership of postcolonial Africa during the Cold War is examined, as is his ultimate rejection by the United States in 1973 that marked the end of the monarchy and ushered in the tragic fratricide of Ethiopian civil war. Haile Selassie was the first African head of state to be honored with a tickertape parade in New York City and the first African head of state to spend the night at the White House. What was it about this charismatic leader that so captivated Americans? How did he become a symbol of all Africa?

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2011-honorees/theodore-m.-vestal

Last Updated: 14 January 2022