The Poisonwood Bible Congolese and American Historical Allusions
Patrice Lumumba educated in Catholic missionary schools and served as postal clerk before travelling to Belgium and becoming involved in politics founded Mouvement National Congolais in 1958 and represented group at All-African Peoples Conference in Ghana charismatic and inspiring leader who spoke French and five African languages first Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo (democratically elected in June 1960) deposed in coup after 12 weeks in office (supported by governments of Belgium, United States, and Great Britain) imprisoned by military under authority of Joseph Mobutu and later executed by firing squad
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Joseph Mobutu (Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga) served in the Belgian Army and independently trained as a writer (inspired by Machiavelli and Churchill) joined Lumumba s party, becoming his personal aide and later Chief of Staff of the Army (probably recruited by Belgians as an informer) dictator of the Republic of Congo (which he renamed Zaire in 1971) from 1965 to 1997, when he was expelled by a rebellion supported by the United States because of his anticommunist stance amassed immense personal wealth through corruption (estimates of 15 billion dollars)
Joseph Mobutu
Joseph Mobutu
Joseph Mobutu
Dwight Eisenhower graduated from West Point served as five-star general in the U.S. Army and Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during World War II worked as Army Chief of Staff for President Harry Truman President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 (campaigned to fight Communism and corruption )
Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight Eisenhower
Allen Dulles graduated from Princeton University and George Washington University Law School before entering the foreign service with U. S. Department of State served as legal adviser to the League of Nations in the 1930s (meeting with British and French leaders as well as Hitler and Mussolini at that time) worked in Switzerland during WWII in intelligencegathering and assisted many German Jews in their escape from Nazi Germany to the United States served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1953 to 1961, waging the Cold War through covert operations appointed to Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Allen Dulles
Larry Devlin joined U.S. Army during World War II, earning a rank of captain recruited by the CIA in 1949 after graduating from college served as CIA field officer in Africa for many years and was station chief in the Congo received directive to assassinate Lumumba through poison and provided support for Mobutu in his two coups after CIA career in the 1970s, worked for DeBeers Diamond Trading Company in Congo for a decade before retiring to Provence, France
Larry Devlin
Sidney Gottlieb earned Ph.D. in chemistry from California Institute of Technology worked for CIA under Director Allen Dulles on secret Cold War projects (poisons and mind control) and was involved in plots to assassinate political leaders in Cuba, Congo, Iraq, and Vietnam received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal from the U. S. government in 1972 after retirement, ran leper hospital in India with his wife
Sidney Gottlieb
Frank Church served as United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981 chaired Senate Select Committee to Study U.S. Intelligence Activities in 1975-76, specifically investigating covert operations of the FBI and CIA spoke out against the Vietnam War and worked to protect the environment and wilderness areas unsuccessfully ran for President in 1976, losing nomination to Jimmy Carter chaired Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1979 to 1981
Frank Church