The Foreign Service Journal, May 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2014 49 that it would be in the interest of the U.S. to respond positively to Morocco’s request for military support. By supplying its army, which tended to be loyal to the king, with updated weapons, Washington could help solidify the king’s position and make the Soviet overture less attractive. In a cable to the Secretary of State, Yost “urgently requested standby authority tomake such an offer.” After the Pentagon’s objections were appeased, the White House signed off on an offer of F-86s. Changing of the Guard On Feb. 21, 1961, Yost met with the king and presented a let- ter from the new U.S. president, John F. Kennedy. In subsequent meetings with the monarch, he pursued the issue of Soviet jets and technicians stationed in the country. At the conclusion of the second meeting, on Feb. 25, Mohammed casually mentioned that he was scheduled for minor surgery later that evening; so minor, in fact, that the procedure would be done in the palace and certainly would not interfere with their meeting the follow- ing morning. The next morning, however, the Moroccan press reported that the king had died during the night. When the American ambas- sador received a phone call during breakfast, he remarked to his wife: “I would venture to bet Prince Hassan was involved.” It was an opinion shared by many. In one of his last acts as U.S. ambassador to Morocco, Yost urged President Kennedy to send a high-profile representative to the funeral. Ambassador at Large Averell Harriman, a Yost family friend, turned out to be the perfect choice. The night before the funeral, Yost and Harriman, both suffering from insomnia, met in the kitchen of the residence in Rabat over a glass of hot milk (it was Harriman’s idea to add a shot of whiskey, Yost recalled). Barely 18 months later both men would be members of the dip- lomatic team advising JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Amb. Yost returned to the United States shortly after the king’s funeral, in March 1961, to become deputy U.S. representa- tive to the United Nations. n Yost’s reserved manner fooled many, friend and foe alike, who faced him across the negotiating table.