Modern History Sourcebook:
President Eisenhower:
Letter to Ngo Dinh Diem, October 23, 1954
Letter from President
Eisenhower to Ngo Dinh Diem, President of the Council of Ministers of Vietnam,
October 23, 1954
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I have been following
with great interest the course of developments in Viet-Nam, particularly
since the conclusion of the conference at Geneva. The implications of the
agreement concerning Viet-Nam have caused grave concern regarding the future
of a 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 Viet-Nam to be more effective and to make a greater
contribution to the welfare and stability of the Government of Viet-Nam.
I am, accordingly, instructing the American Ambassador to Viet-Nam to examine
with you in your capacity as Chief of Government, bow an intelligent program
of American aid given directly to your Government can serve to assist Viet-Nam
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 Viet-Nam 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 Viet-Nam in
undertaking needed reforms. It hopes that such aid, combined with your
own continuing efforts, will contribute effectively toward an independent
Viet-Nam endowed with a strong government. Such a government would, I hope,
be so responsive to the nationalist aspirations of its people, so enlightened
in purpose and effective in performance, that it will be respected both
at home and abroad and discourage any who might wish to impose a foreign
ideology on your free people.
Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Source:
Reprinted from
The Department
of State Bulletin (November 15, 1954), pp. 735-736.
This text is part of the
Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public
domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern
European and World history.
