Toasts of the President and Ambassador S. Edward Peal of Liberia at a Dinner for Ambassadors of the Organization of African Unity

¹ A West African dance.

Note: The President spoke at 9:47 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the White House. Ambassador S. Edward Peal, Dean of the African Ambassadors, responded as follows:

Mr. President, Mrs. Nixon, Mr. Secretary of State, Mrs. Rogers, and other distinguished Members of the Cabinet and officials of Government, distinguished Members of the Congress, Excellencies, my colleagues, ladies and gentlemen:

Permit me, Mr. President, first of all to thank you very sincerely for your warm remarks and for the hopes you have expressed for our continent and for the warm toast you have proffered to the health of the OAU, and in doing so, to our Presidents and chiefs of state and of government.

Having done us this honor of your kind invitation this evening and the gracious manner in which you, Mr. President and Mrs. Nixon, have received us, I want to say that tonight will long be remembered by me and all those for whom I have the privilege to speak as a rare and significant experience. Not the least among the compelling factors in this significance, Mr. President, is the glimpse you have afforded us of seeing the multiple function that the White House has come to serve in the national life of the people of this great country, the United States of America.

And let me say, too, that this historic residence now under the spell of such a distinguished family is proving to be not merely a continuing and treasured symbol of American faith and strength but also a window looking onto our troubled and changing world, which prays that it will never turn to this country and this capital in vain for understanding and leadership.

We Africans know that our once neglected continent, dark only in the sense of the ignorance of those who have only sought a passing acquaintance with our people and our culture, is now within the panoramic view of the White House.

As you have said, Mr. President, I think one of the things we are celebrating this evening is the return from Africa of the first visit there of an American Secretary of State when in the full authority of his office. This visit, Mr. President, let me say, did not take us all by surprise because we had privately counted on some such warmly generous initiative from you, sir, because you are no stranger to Africa, as you have said, and you had already shown your close and enduring concern for the welfare of our people and our continent and for continuing productive friendship between the American and African people.

You have been kind enough to hint to us in advance about the approval you have given to the report which the Secretary of State is submitting to you.

Well, sir, I think for me it is a little bit too early to speculate what is in that report or, indeed, to say what diplomatic triumph the Secretary and Mrs. Rogers brought back from their trip to Africa.

But this I am certain: They came back armed with an invaluable souvenir, the respect, the affection, and the high esteem of all of our people, especially those whom they were able to see for one reason or another.

And, sir, let me give an example: Secretary Rogers probably will recall that in the crowd in Monrovia that swarmed around his car were some of our tumbling dancers. This is one of our traditional ways of showing our affection and our approval to the presence of a distinguished personality among us.

After they left, I had the privilege later of talking to one of the dancers. And in referring to Secretary Rogers he said, "I saw his face when he got out of the car to wave to us. And I said to myself, 'Ah, there goes somebody to whom I can tell my troubles.' And when you see him again, tell him that he has earned the title among us and we will call him our 'Old Man'"

And may I explain to you, please, that this is a venerated title which is the only one that can be popularly bestowed in my country and most of the countries in Africa.

Mr. President, you have spoken about some of your hopes for our continent and of our future cooperation. Let me say that Africa has many things to be grateful to America for. We recognize the earnest altruism that has motivated the assistance, moral and material, extended to our people over many years and in a variety of contexts.

We will always remain mindful of the close, strong brotherly ties that link us to that large and creative segment of the American people. But, above all, Mr. President, we will continue to draw sustaining vigor and comfort from the words and deeds of those great Americans who have charted the course and enriched the vocabulary of freedom. And we will continue to say that so long as there is respect for human dignity, and so long as there is one man who cries out from the dwindling jungle of tyranny, so long, Mr. President, will the American example and pattern have a very relevant and shining example for the building of the African dream.

That is why, Mr. President, we have always been glad to welcome and to look to the United States for understanding because we have often reached out to her for tangible support in our own struggle.

My country, as you correctly said, is an old one. And you know how often we have reached for your assistance. So it is true with my newer brothers, because the problems we share there, despite our age, are common. And we know that your tradition, hallowed and cherished by you, will always allow you to lend assistance and to respond to a genuine and sincere cause.

Now, Mr. President, forgive me, but some of us who have been here a little long were witness to your campaign. And I remember, and I am sure all of us here remember, that during this campaign when you were seeking the Presidency of this great Nation a young girl held out a phrase that so impressed you that it became the rallying cry for your administration: "Bring us together."

Let me say, sir, that that is one of the watchwords for us in Africa, just as it should be for every world statesman who cannot plead any more that he is ignorant of the calamity that awaits us all if we should remain apart.

I thank you on behalf of my colleagues for the kind words you have addressed to us and to our organization, the Organization of African Unity.

Let me say, sir, that this organization was created to protect our welfare and our security. But not only that; it was also created to insure that we would all have better growth and prosperity in peace. But I think above all our organization, the Organization of African Unity, was created to enable us, we in Africa, to make the maximum contribution to the peace and welfare and plenty of men.

That is why I think my colleagues would want me to promise you, the American people, that in Africa we do not seek the exclusion of anybody, of any men of good will. We are pledged to constructive and rational and conciliatory partnership.

We have aspired to share in the good things of this world on the same basis as anybody, and above all, when we clamor for justice to be done and done quickly in our continent, in some cases it is because we do not wish that any man would suffer a wrong or the denial of the right for one moment than it is longer.

And if there be any man in this country or anywhere else who would himself vexatiously be seeking a policy for Africa, all I want to say is that he should borrow a phrase from you: "Bring us together."

Now, I promised you, Mr. President, not to speak long. But I think sir, I would like to end and ask your forgiveness but I am guilty of gaining this reputation of telling a story about an elephant.

Please excuse me, but I am not too much obsessed with the day-to-day development of the political rule of this country; although I have been, as an observer and like many of my colleagues, and will always be interested in insuring the support, the sympathy, and understanding of the elephant. But, Mr. President, there is a tribe in my country that has always given godlike qualities to the elephant.

You remember the last story I told you last year and Secretary Rogers will remember the one I told him about the elephant at the National Art Gallery.

So here is my latest. Once upon a time there were three brothers sitting in a village outside of the forest in a "palaver" hut, each deeply immersed in his personal dilemma. The first brother, well-known for his prowess as a hunter, had wounded a leopard. And in keeping with our custom, it was his responsibility to remove this dangerous threat from the life of the village.

The second brother had to build a hut very quickly in order to receive his expected bride. The third brother had to clear several acres of land before the rains came and knew that it would be impossible to do this without some help.

And as in all of these fictional predicaments an elephant happened to stroll by, for the gods are always kind. Each of the brothers started to bombard him with pleas for advice and assistance.

The elephant let them exhaust themselves. And he lifted up his head and he called to them: "Please, be quiet and listen. All I am trying to do is get us all across the creek into the plains where we can, if we start and work together, we will quickly clear the forest. There will be no place for the leopard to hide and he will be trapped. And in doing this, we would fell ourselves so many trees that there would be enough logs to build a hut."

Well, sir, here is the moral of that story, as told by this tribe in Liberia: To heed the cry of one's brother is often-times the crucial key to one's own fulfillment.

In our forests of underdevelopment, and the cry is many, is loud, and is varied, but, sir, and thanks to you, we have seen a new friendship in this country for Africa and we are sure, sir, that under your guidance it will flourish.

So it is in this village that I would like to ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to join my colleagues and me in a warm and esteemed toast to the President of the United States wishing him all success in his many varied and onerous duties, to friendship between the American and African people, and to peace and good will to all men.

Mr. President.