Ka kammala wannan magana: A shekara ta 1960, Shugaba Dwight D. Eisenhower ya nada Timberlake a matsayin jakadan Amurka na farko a sabuwar Jamhuriyar Demokradiyyar Kongo, tsohuwar mulkin mallaka ta Belgium. A lokacin da
Rikicin Kwango, Hayes ya kasance mai goyon bayan Mobutu Sese Seko, kuma ya ba da shawarar saukar da Patrice Lumumba. A watan Maris na 1961, Hayes da kansa ya umarci jiragen ruwa biyar na Amurka a cikin ruwan Congo, wani mataki wanda ya kama gwamnatin Kennedy ba tare da tsaro ba.