The Saber and Scroll
United States first mentioned the defeat of Communism as an objective in Indochina in a speech given to Congress by President Truman . In this speech , Truman stated that the United States would provide assistance to any country that was threatened by Communism .
President Hồ Chí Minh read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square , 2 September 1945 . 16
In June 1952 , a secret memo written by the National Security Council stated that “ Communist control of all of Southeast Asia would render the U . S . position in the Pacific offshore island chain precarious and would seriously jeopardize the fundamental U . S . security interests in the Far East .” 17 Even though Ho Chi Min wrote “ eight letters to President Truman reminding him of the self-determination promises of of the Atlantic Charter ,” 18 the NSC could not ( or would not ) believe that the events taking place in Vietnam were not under the direct control of the Soviet Union . One of the stipulations of the Atlantic Charter that Minh pointed out in his letters seny sent between October 1945 and February 1946 was a declaration by Roosevelt and Churchill to “ respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live .” 19 Truman never responded to any of these letters .
One major event that proved influential in the future of the Vietnam conflict was the establishment of the People ’ s Republic of China by Mao Zedong in 1949 . The loss of China to Communism was a thorn in the side of the United States from that point forward . In early 1950 , both the People ’ s Republic of China and the Soviet Union gave formal recognition to the communist-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam , and began to ship military and economic supplies to North Vietnam , which allowed the Viet Minh to increase their offensive movements against French military installations . This recognition and support led to the identification of the Viet Minh as a communist organization . The United States , at this time ,
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