Liberian Politics: The Portrait by African American Diplomat J. Milton Turner

Liberian Politics tells the story of Liberia’s early nation-building efforts, its attempts to establish democracy, and the pivotal role played by African-Americans in exporting the American democratic experiment to Liberia. The story of the rise of Africa’s oldest democracy is told through the writings of J. Milton Turner, an African-American diplomat who served in Liberia from 1871 to 1878. Turner’s official diplomatic correspondence - organized and edited by Walton, Rosser and Stevenson - documents Liberia’s struggle to define its political institutions and processes. They chart Liberia’s struggle to establish its relationship with the wider world and offer an intimate portrait of Turner’s role as the agent of US foreign policy in Liberia. This comparative study reveals the global dimensions of 19th century African-American politics and offers rich insight into the direction of early US diplomacy in Africa.