On 1 October 1963, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia arrived at Union Station in Washington, where President John F. Kennedy welcomed him at noon with full military honours, according to the record of the remarks kept by The American Presidency Project.

Kennedy told the crowd that the emperor was “a man whose place in history is already assured,” and recalled his “memorable and distinctive appearance before the League of Nations in the mid-thirties which so stirred the conscience of the world.”

The president also praised the emperor’s support for the United Nations and “his leadership in building a community of free and independent states in Africa.” He noted that since the emperor’s previous visit to the United States, 29 independent countries had appeared on the world scene.

In his reply, Haile Selassie said he had first visited the United States ten years earlier and had returned “to meet the leaders of America in 1963” and to strengthen the ties of friendship and cooperation between Ethiopia and the United States.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library holds White House photographs of the arrival ceremony, along with an audio recording of Kennedy’s welcome, which runs 3 minutes and 8 seconds.