Episode 1: Truman Sides With France

We must sacrifice to our last drop of blood to save our country.   -Ho Chi Minh, President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1946

At the end of World War II, Ho Chi Minh—the Vietnamese Communist leader—seized an opportunity to escape decades of French rule. Japanese troops had taken control of Vietnam in 1945. The day Japan surrendered to the Allies, Ho Chi Minh declared independence in front of a crowd of exhilarated Vietnamese. In a deliberate appeal for American support, he opened his speech with the words: “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

But when France went to war to recolonize Vietnam in 1945, the U.S. government needed its ally’s cooperation to contain the spread of communism in Europe. From 1946 to 1950, it adopted a neutral policy toward the conflict. In 1950 President Harry S. Truman authorized direct financial and military assistance to the French.  

Looking Back

Ho Chi Minh’s long quest for American support

President Truman was not the first American official Ho Chi Minh attempted to befriend, nor was the United States the first nation he approached. He first tried to enlist U.S. support in 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference. He sent an appeal to Soviet Premier Josef Stalin in 1945-46 very similar to the one he sent to Truman. He had long known his small country would need allies to win independence from the French.

Ho Chi Minh made his only successful connection with American officials after he helped a downed U.S. pilot reach safety during World War II. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) enlisted “Old Man Ho” to broadcast radio reports on weather and Japanese troop movements to U.S. intelligence operatives stationed in China. Later, his Viet Minh guerrillas joined forces with an OSS team. Ho’s bright eyes and calm geniality made a powerful impression on the officers. But in the years to come, many Americans would associate his wispy beard and peasant attire with something sinister.