EISENHOWER'S LETTER TO NGO DINH DIEM
October 23, 1954
(Department of State Bulletin, November 15, 1954)
Dear Mr. President;
I have been following with great interest the course of
developments in Vietnam, particularly since the conclusion of
the conference at Geneva. The implications of the agreement
concerning Vietnam have caused grave concern regarding the
future of the country temporarily divided by an artificial
military grouping, weakened by a long and exhausting war, and
faced with enemies without and by their subversive collaborators
within.
Your recent requests for aid to assist in the formidable project
of the movement of several hundred thousand loyal Vietnamese
citizens away from areas which are passing under a de facto rule
and political ideology which they abhor, are being fulfilled. I
am glad that the United States is able to assist in this
humanitarian effort.
We have been exploring ways and means to permit our aid to
Vietnam to be more effective and to make a greater contribution
to the welfare and stability of the Government of Vietnam. I
am, accordingly, instructing the American Ambassador to Vietnam
[Donald R. Heath] to examine with you in your capacity as Chief
of Government, how an intelligent program of American aid given
directly to your Government can serve to assist Vietnam in its
present hour of trial, provided that your Government is prepared
to give assurances as to the standards of performance it would
be able to maintain in the event such aid were supplied.
The purpose of this offer is to assist the Government of Vietnam
in developing and maintaining a strong, viable state, capable of
resisting attempted subversion or aggression through military
means. The Government of the United States expects that this
aid will be met by performance on the part of the Government of
Vietnam in undertaking needed reforms. It hopes that such aid,
combined with your own continuing efforts, will contribute
effectively toward an independent Vietnam endowed with a strong
Government. Such a Government would, I hope, be so responsive
to the nationalist aspirations of its people, so enlightened i
purpose and effective in performance, that it will be respected
at home and abroad and discourage any who might wish to impose a
foreign ideology on your free people.
KENNEDY'S LETTER TO NGO DINH DIEM
December 14, 1961
(Department of State Bulletin, January 1, 1962)
Dear Mr. President:
I have received your recent letter in which you described so
cogently the dangerous conditions caused by North Vietnam's
effort to take over your country. The situation in your
embattled country is well known to me and to the American
people. We have been deeply disturbed by the assault on your
country. Our indignation has mounted as the deliberate savagery
of the Communist programs of assassination, kidnapping, and
wanton violence became clear.
Your letter underlines what our own information has convincingly
shown - that the campaign of force and terror now being waged
against your people and your Government is supported and
directed from outside by the authorities at Hanoi. They have
thus violated the provisions of the Geneva Accords designed to
ensure peace in Vietnam and to which they bound themselves in
1954.
At that time, the United States, although not a party to the
Accords, declared that it "would view any renewal of the
aggression in violation of the Agreements with grave concern and
as seriously threatening international peace and security." We
continue to maintain that view.
In accordance with that declaration, and in response to your
request, we are prepared to help the Republic of Vietnam to
protect its people and to preserve its independence. We shall
promptly increase our assistance to your defense effort as well
as help relieve the destruction of the floods which you
describe. I have already given the orders to get these programs
underway.
The United States, like the Republic of Vietnam, remains devoted
to the cause of peace and our primary purpose is to help your
people maintain their independence. If the Communist
authorities in North Vietnam will stop their campaign to destroy
the Republic of Vietnam, the measures we are taking to assist
your defense efforts will no longer be necessary. We shall seek
to persuade the Communists to give up their attempts to force
and subversion. In any case, we are confident that the
Vietnamese people will preserve their independence and gain the
peace and prosperity for which they have sought so hard and so
long.
