Mondale and his wife in Boston a few years later. Courtesy City of Boston Archives.
In June 1980, I was completing my three-year assignment as U.S. Ambassador to Senegal. Our family effects were all packed and ready for shipment to Washington. We were about to depart after a round of farewell dinners given by fellow ambassadors and government officials. At the last minute, we received instructions from the State Department to delay. Vice President Walter Mondale had scheduled a goodwill visit to West Africa in mid-July. Senegal was his first stop, and I was to manage his visit.
Mondale arrived at Dakar International Airport on Air Force Two early on a Tuesday morning. His wife and teenage son were with him, along with members of his staff and Secret Service agents. I went into the aircraft to welcome Mondale. He was very gracious in his response and asked me to meet him at his hotel at 3 pm, after he and his party had gotten over their jet lag.
When I arrived at Mondale’s hotel suite, I found him in his underwear shorts, with shirt and tie, as his valet was pressing his trousers. He was quite relaxed as we went over his schedule of appointments and social events. His wife had a separate schedule focused on women’s organizations.
I returned to the Embassy for an hour prior to Mondale’s first meeting with the Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs. There, I had to deal with a minor crisis. The head of his Secret Service detail told me that none of his men could speak French, and that none of the Senegalese security team could speak English; they could not communicate. I proposed that my 16-year-old son Marc, fluent in both languages, would act as an interpreter. The answer was a resounding yes, with the addition that Marc would be paid an interpreter’s salary.
Mondale had time for just two meetings that afternoon, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the National Assembly. In both conversations, Mondale stressed President Jimmy Carter’s strong feelings of friendship for Senegalese President Leopold Senghor, and the U.S. government’s high regard for Senegal’s democratic form of government.
That first evening, my son Marc had dinner with Mondale’s son. On returning home, Marc had an announcement for his parents: “Tomorrow, they are going to give me a gun,” he boasted. Needless to say, our instantaneous response was, “absolutely no gun.”
The next day, Mondale had substantive meetings with President Senghor and other political leaders, including those in the opposition. Mondale was especially intrigued by Senghor’s views on Africa’s cultural constraints on democracy. Senghor also assured him that Senegal was solidly pro-Israel, despite the fact that the Senegalese population was 95% Muslim.
On Wednesday evening, my wife Suzanne and I offered a large reception at the residence, with the guests gathered around the swimming pool in the back patio. As the guests started to arrive, and photographers were snapping photos, Mondale whispered in my ear, “tell them that I do not want to be photographed with a drink in my hand,” surely with folks back home in Minnesota in mind.
Riding between appointments in the Ambassador’s limousine, Mondale and I became friendly. At one point, he spoke about the presidential election scheduled for that November. He told me that President Carter would be defeated for re-election by the Republican candidate who had not yet been formally selected, but who would likely be Ronald Reagan.
Between his appointments with the country's leadership, Mondale visited Gorée Island, where slaves from West African nations left for the United States. Because of its role in the Atlantic slave trade, Gorée was the most important stop for American visitors, and Mondale wanted to see it for himself.
After three days and three nights in Senegal, Vice President Mondale had accomplished a great deal. Mondale’s in-depth knowledge of Africa and its development issues left an excellent impression on the country's elites, and his good humor and modesty assured them that the United States was a thoughtful friend to Senegal.