Thursday, November 24, 2011

1954 - Senator John F. Kennedy speaking against American involvement in Indochina




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I read the book JFK and the Unspeakable by Douglas and he has a great story that in 68, RFK was asked how he and JFK were so right about Vietnam (it was obvious in 68 the war was a mistake). RFK slammed his fist on his desk and screamed 'BECAUSE WE WERE THERE!'. Referring to his and JFK's trip in the 50s where they saw the French getting routed by the Vietnamese. JFK knew we would be just replacing the French if we stayed there (same outcome). He was ready to get out in 65 after the election.



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According to Kenny O'Donnell's book, JFK was ready to get out of Vietnam after the Diem coup in November 1963. But he told O'Donnell that he'd have to wait until after the 1964 U.S. election; if he pulled U.S. troops out before that, the Republicans would accuse him of being "soft on Communism" - in 1964 that would have been devastating for his re-election if it stuck.

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actually, yeah. the main turning point in that whole cold war thing was the Cuban Missile Crisis. After that, Kennedy established detente with Khrushchev. This led to a more optimistic and less fearful vision with JFK's American University speech.


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