In the National Security Council meeting of January 8, when his advisers discussed the possible need for the United States to intervene in order to prop up the French war effort, Eisenhower spoke decisively. The minutes record his adamant opposition to sending American soldiers to Indochina: “He simply could not imagine the United States putting ground forces anywhere in Southeast Asia. . . . There was just no sense in even talking about United States forces replacing the French in Indochina. If we did so, the Vietnamese could be expected to transfer their hatred of the French to us. I cannot
...more
