William V. S. Tubman

President of Liberia (1944-1971)

• Born: November 29, 1895
• Birthplace: Harper, Liberia
• Died: July 23, 1971
• Place of death: London, England

Tubman, who was president of Liberia for twenty-seven years, held that office longer than anyone in the history of Africa’s first republic. During his tenure, he instituted several political, economic, and social reforms, which had important consequences for Liberian society.

Early Life

William V. S. Tubman was born in Harper, Maryland county, Liberia. His ancestors were freed slaves, who emigrated from Georgia in the United States and settled in Liberia in the mid-nineteenth century. His father, a Methodist minister, also served as speaker of the House of Representatives and was later elected a senator. Tubman’s parents were very religious and were strict disciplinarians; their six children were required to attend daily family prayers and weekly church services. Tubman attended Cape Palmas Seminary and Cuttington College and Divinity School. As a young man, he served with the Liberian militia and rose to the rank of colonel. He took part in several military encounters between forces of the Americo-Liberian government and the indigenous peoples. He founded a military unit known as the “Tubman Volunteers,” which later became part of the Liberian National Guard. After his ordination as a Methodist minister in 1914, Tubman began teaching at the seminary he had attended, while studying law at the same time. He also served temporarily as collector of internal revenue for Maryland county. He was admitted to the bar in 1917 and two years later was appointed county attorney. He soon established a reputation for legal competence and eloquence in the courtroom. “The poor man’s lawyer,” as he became known, Tubman gave free legal advice and represented many poor clients who could not afford his fees. As a result, his popularity increased, and he developed friendships with ordinary men and women, which later served him well in his political career. Tubman joined the True Whig Party, which had been in power since 1878, to further his political aspirations. In 1923, he was elected to the senate, and at twenty-eight became the youngest senator in Liberian history. He was reelected for another six-year term in 1929.

Life’s Work

Tubman’s political career received a temporary setback after the League of Nations inquiry into the Fernando Po scandal. In 1930, a Commission of the League concluded that Liberia (a member of the League of Nations) was guilty of selling its citizens to cocoa planters on the Spanish island of Fernando Po. This finding prompted the resignations of the president of Liberia, Charles D. B. King, and the vice president, Allen N. Yancy. Tubman, who had served as legal adviser to the vice president, resigned from the senate in 1931. Ironically, this incident afforded him the opportunity of gaining greater knowledge of the Liberian political system, when he defended the officials who were involved. Although Tubman returned to the senate in 1934, he again resigned three years later, when he was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court. Nevertheless, his responsibilities on the nation’s highest court did not preclude him from remaining active in the ruling True Whig Party.

In 1943, Tubman was elected the eighteenth president of Liberia, for the first of seven successive terms. When Tubman, as president-elect, and President Edwin Barclay visited the United States as guests of President Franklin D. Roosevelt later that year, they became the first black guests to spend the night in the White House and the first to be entertained there since Booker T. Washington had visited President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901.

Tubman’s inauguration in January, 1944, heralded major political, economic, and social changes in Liberia. Since the early nineteenth century, Liberian society had consisted of two distinct and separate societies: the Americo-Liberians, who were descended from freed American slaves who first arrived there in 1822, and the indigenous ethnic peoples. Although constituting only a small percentage of the total population, the Americo-Liberians soon became the ruling class and the established political and social elite. Tubman introduced two cardinal policies that were the pillars of his administration: the Open Door Policy and the National Unification Policy. The Open Door Policy encouraged foreign investment and trade, and exploitation of the country’s natural resources. This policy sought to reverse the policies of previous administrations, which isolated the indigenous peoples from economic development and modernization.

The National Unification Policy instituted by Tubman was aimed at improving the political and social relations between the Americo-Liberian minority and the indigenous majority. In his first inaugural address, he condemned the exploitation of the indigenous peoples and pledged himself to improving their political and educational opportunities. The constitution was amended to extend the suffrage to women and the ethnic majority, and legal barriers that prevented the latter from owning property on a freehold basis were eliminated. Non-Americo-Liberians were also represented in the legislature and were appointed to the cabinet. Tubman also traveled widely in the interior, forging personal contacts with the chiefs and ordinary people and listening to their grievances. Of symbolic importance was the deliberate policy to end public distinctions between Americo-Liberians and native, or tribal, peoples.

Liberia experienced rapid economic growth in the 1950’s and early 1960’s as a result of foreign investment and economic and technical assistance. Major concessions were given to foreign companies, such as the Firestone Corporation, for the exploitation of the country’s natural resources. Many Liberians were employed in mines, plantations, and rapidly growing towns. The prices of Liberia’s primary commodity exports iron ore and rubber also increased significantly. Between 1950 and 1970, the gross domestic product rose from $48 million to more than $400 million, and the national budget increased from $14 million to more than $60 million. With this relative prosperity, schools, bridges, markets, and hospitals were built. Monrovia, the capital, which had been a sleepy coastal town of 12,000 people in 1939, was transformed into a bustling city of 134,000 in 1970.

However, under Tubman’s Open Door Policy, foreign entrepreneurs, rather than Liberians, controlled the economy. The terms of concession agreements were highly favorable to foreign investors, and there was no scrupulous enforcement of tax obligations and correct accounting practices by foreign companies. Most Liberians were employed as unskilled or semiskilled workers, and few provisions were made for the training and hiring of qualified Liberians for managerial positions. Nevertheless, the leading politicians and government officials benefited from increased foreign involvement in the economy, and many owned large rubber estates and shares in foreign companies. Starting in the late 1960’s, Liberia faced severe economic problems and entered a period of stagnation as the international prices for iron ore and rubber slumped. Although Tubman instituted austerity measures, government officials continued their lavish lifestyles, which put a further drain on the national treasury.

In the early years of his presidency, Tubman adroitly began to consolidate his political power. He undermined the bases of power of Americo-Liberian rivals, by coopting many of them into his administration. In addition, he broadened his base of support among the indigenous peoples. As his position became more secure, Tubman tolerated no challenges to his authority and used the police, army, and security forces to quell domestic opposition to his rule. Elections became a mere formality within the context of the single-party system of government.

As Liberia was one of only a few independent African countries at the end of World War II, Tubman became a leading spokesperson for African independence. He used the major international forums to draw attention to the decolonization struggle and racial discrimination in southern Africa. In 1960, Liberia became the first African state to have a seat on the United Nations Security Council, and nine years later the Liberian delegate to the United Nations, Angie Brooks-Randolph, became the first African president of the General Assembly. On the continental level, Tubman hosted several important inter-African conferences, notably the Monrovia Conference of 1961. The conference brought together what at the time was the largest number of African states and favored functional cooperation over continental political unification, which was advocated by the more radical Casablanca Group of States. The Monrovia Conference played an important role in the creation of the Organization of African Unity in May, 1963. Having acquired the stature of an elder statesman, Tubman was often called on to mediate disputes between African states. He died in London on July 23, 1971.

Significance

Throughout his long presidency, Tubman proved to be the consummate politician: shrewd, astute, and tenacious. He was, in Niccolò Machiavelli’s dictum, “a fox in order to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten off wolves.” Although the True Whig Party, the only legitimate political party during his tenure, was still dominated by Americo-Liberians and the key positions in the government, judiciary, and bureaucracy remained in their hands, Tubman broadened the base of Liberian politics and gave greater political and educational opportunities to the indigenous people. The political system during his presidency was not monolithic, and he developed and expanded the central and local institutions of government.

Although a member of the Americo-Liberian aristocracy, Tubman established strong personal ties with Liberians of different classes and ethnic backgrounds. Affable and accessible and with a dynamic personality, Tubman enjoyed wide support. He was largely responsible for bringing Liberia into the modern age. Tubman was able to maintain political stability in a period of tremendous political, economic, and social change, not only in Liberia but also throughout the African continent.

Bibliography

Liebenow, J. Gus. Liberia: The Evolution of Privilege. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1969. A readable, analytical, and dispassionate account of the political structure of Liberian society. It contains many insights into the emergence and nature of the Americo-Liberian elite.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Liberia: The Quest for Democracy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. This is a discussion of Liberia’s efforts at democracy and development. It has a stimulating interpretation of Tubman’s contribution to the “cult of the presidency.”

Lowenkopf, Martin. Politics in Liberia: The Conservative Road to Development. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1976. A competent treatment of Liberian development that blends politics, history, economics, and sociology. Includes a detailed discussion of the Tubman era. A major limitation is its use of the outdated “modernization school” approach to development.

Pham, John-Peter. Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State. New York: Reed Press, 2004. This history of Liberia includes a brief chapter about Tubman.

Smith, Robert A. William V. S. Tubman. Amsterdam: Van Ditmar, 1967. A useful biography of Tubman. It conveys a good sense of the nature of the Tubman presidency.

Wreh, Tuan. The Love of Liberty: The Rule of President William V. S. Tubman in Liberia. London: C. Hurst, 1976. A short and lively biography that is critical of Tubman. Despite lapses in style, it focuses attention on some of the drawbacks of the Tubman era.