William Bundy detailed his disillusionment on several occasions in June. It is clear that the prospect of a deal behind America’s back between the Saigon government and the NLF was heavy on his mind. In a heartfelt letter to American envoys in East Asia dated 14 June, Bundy said that the war was going very badly; the prospects were poor, the options few. The dispatch of large numbers of American ground forces looked likely, but such a move might well cause the Vietnamese to slacken in their own effort.
