Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953-61
1953-61
What most influenced Eisenhower's support of Diem?
Background: Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected in the midst of the second Red Scare. The Rosenbergs had been convicted of espionage and would soon be executed. The more powerful Hydrogen bomb had been tested in the Bikini atoll. The Korean War was winding down. Soon the French would lose at Dienbienphu and the future of Vietnam would hang in the balance. Secretary of State Dulles went to Geneva to negotiate a peace accord where both Korea and Vietnam were discussed. The American delegation left before the end of the conference and the Eisenhower administration would not be bound by the accords. Eisenhower, like Truman before him, would continue to try to "contain" communism within that "defensive perimeter."
Documents:
Questions for Examination:
- How did the American experience in Korea lay the groundwork for the Cold War?
- How did the Red Scare continue to impact another Cold War president?
- Did Eisenhower's military experience affect his choices in Southeast Asia?
- What did Eisenhower expect from Diem?
This excerpt from a campaign speech in 1952 implies that Eisenhower, the war hero could assess the situation by putting his own boots on the ground in Korea. He also promises to shape our psychological warfare program and reject appeasement. His leadership would be called upon as he would be elected that year.
Press Conference April 7, 1954 where Eisenhower outlines the Domino Theory
Q. Robert Richards, Copley Press: "Mr. President, would you mind commenting on the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world? I think there has been, across the country, some lack of understanding on just what it means to us."
THE PRESIDENT: "You have, of course, both the specific and the general when you talk about such things.
"First of all, you have the specific value of a locality in its production of materials that the world needs.
"Then you have the possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world.
"Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the 'falling domino' principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that
would have the most profound influences.
"Now, with respect to the first one, two of the items from this particular area that the world uses are tin and tungsten. They are very important. There are others, of course, the rubber plantations and so on.
"Then with respect to more people passing under this domination, Asia, after all, has already lost some 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and we simply can't afford greater losses.
"But when we come to the possible sequence of events, the loss of Indochina, of Burma, of Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia following, now you begin to talk about areas that not only multiply the disadvantages that you would suffer through loss of materials, sources of materials, but now you are talking really about millions and millions and millions of people.
"Finally, the geographical position achieved thereby does many things. It turns the so-called island defensive chain of Japan, Formosa, of the Philippines and to the southward; it moves in to threaten Australia and New Zealand.
"It takes away, in its economic aspects, that region that Japan must have as a trading area or Japan, in turn, will have only one place in the world to go- that is, toward the Communist areas in order to live.
"So, the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world."
Q. Robert Richards, Copley Press: "Mr. President, would you mind commenting on the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world? I think there has been, across the country, some lack of understanding on just what it means to us."
THE PRESIDENT: "You have, of course, both the specific and the general when you talk about such things.
"First of all, you have the specific value of a locality in its production of materials that the world needs.
"Then you have the possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world.
"Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the 'falling domino' principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that
would have the most profound influences.
"Now, with respect to the first one, two of the items from this particular area that the world uses are tin and tungsten. They are very important. There are others, of course, the rubber plantations and so on.
"Then with respect to more people passing under this domination, Asia, after all, has already lost some 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and we simply can't afford greater losses.
"But when we come to the possible sequence of events, the loss of Indochina, of Burma, of Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia following, now you begin to talk about areas that not only multiply the disadvantages that you would suffer through loss of materials, sources of materials, but now you are talking really about millions and millions and millions of people.
"Finally, the geographical position achieved thereby does many things. It turns the so-called island defensive chain of Japan, Formosa, of the Philippines and to the southward; it moves in to threaten Australia and New Zealand.
"It takes away, in its economic aspects, that region that Japan must have as a trading area or Japan, in turn, will have only one place in the world to go- that is, toward the Communist areas in order to live.
"So, the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world."
In May of 1957, Ngo Dinh Diem toured the US and was welcomed by President Eisenhower. Diem was an American educated Catholic who sought American support for his rule in South Vietnam following the French rule. His promise to fight communism was sincere. His tour included a speech to a joint session of Congress. A write up about the address can be found in the House of Representatives archives.