What the 1964 U.S. Telegram Actually Shows
Declassified U.S. diplomatic records from March 2, 1964 include Telegram 244 sent from the U.S. Embassy in Accra to the State Department. This cable reported on a meeting between President Kwame Nkrumah and the U.S. ambassador, during which they discussed rising tensions between Ghana and the United States. In that conversation:
- The ambassador recounted how he had cautioned embassy staff not to repeat damaging rumors circulating in Ghana.
- Nkrumah told the ambassador he was particularly upset about false rumors claiming his “perfectly healthy baby” was “half animal, half human.” This was mentioned as a rumor circulating in Ghana, not something written by the U.S. official about Nkrumah.
This exchange suggests the telegram reflected local rumors about Nkrumah rather than the U.S. government characterizing him in racist terms. The official document does not itself describe him as “less of a monkey” or use that phrase in reference to the president.
Where the Rumor Likely Comes From
The claim that a 1964 telegram described Nkrumah as “less of a monkey” is likely a misinterpretation or distortion of this documented passage about rumors. The remembered phrasing (“less of a monkey”) does not appear in the declassified document itself, and no reputable archival citation supports that exact wording. The telegram instead reports on damaging rumors circulating in Ghana that Nkrumah mentioned in the diplomatic discussion.
Historical Context
At the time, U.S.–Ghana relations were tense:
- Ghana had recently become a one‑party state under Nkrumah, and relations with Western powers were strained.
- U.S. documents from early 1964 reflect concern in Washington about Ghana’s political course and its impact on bilateral relations, with telegrams and action memoranda discussing how to “keep pressure” on Nkrumah’s government.
In summary: the widely repeated phrase about Nkrumah being described as a “monkey” does not show up in the primary source itself. What does show up in the actual 1964 U.S. Embassy telegram is a reference to hearsay and rumors in Ghana — which the ambassador relayed — rather than an official U.S. depiction of him in those terms.
