Right Out of Context The charge is false. The .actual
passage in Eisenhower's memoirs shows that Ike's words have been quoted out of context to such an extent that his original meaning has been rev:rsed :
am convinced that the French could not
win the war because the internal political situation in Vietnam. weak and confused, badly weakened their military position. I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledge- able in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting. possibly 80 per cent of the popula- lion have 'voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State BO Dal. Indeed, the lack of leadership and drive on the part of Bao Dai was a factor
in the feeling prevalent among Vietnamese that they had nothing to fight for. As one French- man said to me, 'What Vietnam needs is another Syngman 'thee, regardless of all the difficulties the presence of such a personality would entail.' (Mandate for Change, p. 372 (1963).)
It is clear beyond doubt that Eisenhower was referring to the pre-1954 period of French colonialism. And so far from thinking that Viet- nam would voluntarily go Communist at any future time, the former President, when he came to write his memoirs, obviously thought that a militant anti-Communist leader, freed from Bao Dai's colonialist taint, could salvage the country from the Communists.
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