Clifford Dupont
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Clifford Walter Dupont (December 6, 1905 – June 28, 1978) was a British-Rhodesian politician. He was a close ally of Ian Smith, and Smith made him Head of State of Rhodesia during the period in which the country unilaterally broke away from British rule. Dupont's status in this role was not accepted internationally.
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[edit] Early life
Dupont was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and Clare College, Cambridge where he read law. He qualified as a solicitor in 1929 and set up his own company in 1933. Having served in the Royal Artillery Officer Training Corps while at University, on the outbreak of World War II he was commissioned into the Artillery and served as an adjutant for a light anti-aircraft battalion. He served in North Africa and was on General Eisenhower's staff during the liberation of Europe in 1944; he ended the war as a War Office official.
[edit] Move to Rhodesia
In 1947 Dupont paid a brief visit to Southern Rhodesia and fell in love with the country. He returned in 1948 and bought some land at Featherstone, south of Salisbury, which he eventually turned into a successful cattle ranch. He emigrated full-time in the early 1950s, but was not initially involved in politics. In 1957 his second wife died, and the deaths of his son and daughter in an air crash in 1958 left him looking for a new role.
[edit] Politics
At the Federal election for the Central African Federation in 1958, Dupont became the Dominion Party candidate for Fort Victoria. In the 1962 general election in Rhodesia, he won the Charter constituency as a Rhodesian Front candidate and was rewarded with appointment as Minister of Justice in the RF government. However, Dupont was not pleased with the performance of the Prime Minister, Winston Field, and after Field's failure to win independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 following the dissolution of the Central African Federation, he joined with the plotters who successfully overthrew Field and installed Ian Smith as Prime Minister.
[edit] UDI role
From August 1964 Dupont was Deputy Prime Minister of Rhodesia, and served as Smith's Minister of External Affairs (adding also the Defence portfolio from June 1965). When Smith issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence on 11 November 1965 (with Dupont as the second signatory to the UDI document), he decided that Dupont should take over as the Queen's representative. However, an approach to the British government requesting Dupont's appointment as Governor-General was rebuffed. Instead, Smith crafted a new post of Officer Administering the Government in which Dupont effectively replaced the Governor, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, when formally appointed on December 20. Opponents of UDI who considered it an illegal move, such as the Independent member of the House of Assembly Dr Ahrn Palley, refused to recognise Dupont's office.
[edit] Presidency
It therefore fell to Dupont to sign the papers to dissolve the Rhodesia Legislative Assembly in March 1970 and to issue the proclamation summoning a new House of Assembly under a constitution which severed Rhodesia's links with Britain. When Rhodesia was formally declared a republic, Dupont was named as President of Rhodesia on April 14, 1970. During the latter period of his term he suffered long bouts of ill health, and retired on December 31, 1975.
| Preceded by none |
Deputy Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia 1964-1965 |
Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by none |
Officer Administering the Government of Rhodesia 1965-1970 |
Succeeded by abolished |
| Preceded by none |
President of Rhodesia 1970-1975 |
Succeeded by John Wrathall |
