Who Controls America

by Mark Mullen

Several times during Ho Chi Minh’s career he had petitioned the United States to recognize Vietnam’s independence and support the end of the French colony status. The first time was to Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Wilson refused to meet with him. The second opportunity came in 1945 when he requested Truman to recognize an independent Vietnam under the Atlantic Charter. Truman did not respond. These were missed opportunities by the United States to influence the future of Vietnam. Then, in 1950, the Soviet Union’s General Secretary Joseph Stalin recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a nation. Ho Chi Minh now had access to war supplies and in 1954 defeated the French. A peace treaty, the Geneva Accords, separated Vietnam into two sections. The North governed by Ho Chi Minh, and the South governed by the State of South Vietnam.