Extensive literature sees the Cold War period as an era of mass foreign intervention by the world’s superpowers. I focus on postcolonial Sub-Saharan African states because of the tumultuous period that marks the transition from colony to independent nation-state. Further, authoritarian regimes were distinct on the African continent, with the prevalence of popular Pan-African leaders emerging. There are two key findings. First, if the US is in the “selectorate” of a nation-state, and a leader that threatens their sphere of influence is overthrown, it would be due in part to the actions of the US. Second, a leader who threatens the United States will also threaten a powerful subsection of the domestic elite. In turn, this domestic elite will either appeal to the US or work with the US to overthrow the leader. To provide evidence for my claims, I use process tracing and selectorate theory to investigate the overthrow of the two ‘fathers of Pan Africanism’ that emerged during the postcolonial period. I demonstrate that the relationship between the domestic elite and the United States heavily informs the overthrow of popular Pan-Africanist leaders. These leaders were anti-free markets, expropriated profits, and initiated significant land reform and redistribution of income. This threatened the US version of the world order and the position of disgruntled domestic elites whose benefits would be curtailed if that world order were to change.