Modern History Sourcebook:
President Lyndon Johnson and Ho Chi Minh:
Letter Exchange, 1967
PEACE NEGOTIATIONS IN VIETNAMLetter from President Johnson to Ho Chi Minh, President of the Democratic Republic
of Vietnam, February 8, 1967Dear Mr. President: I am writing to you in the hope that the conflict in Vietnam can be brought to an end.
That conflict has already taken a heavy toll-in lives lost, in wounds inflicted, in
property destroyed, and in simple human misery. If we fail to find a just and peaceful
solution, history will judge us harshly.Therefore, I believe that we both have a heavy obligation to seek earnestly the path to
peace. It is in response to that obligation that I am writing directly to you.We have tried over the past several years, in a variety of ways and through a number of
channels, to convey to you and your colleagues our desire to achieve a peaceful
settlement. For whatever reasons, these efforts have not achieved any results. . . .In the past two weeks, I have noted public statements by representatives of your
government suggesting that you would be prepared to enter into direct bilateral talks with
representatives of the U.S. Government, provided that we ceased
"unconditionally" and permanently our bombing operations against your country
and all military actions against it. In the last day, serious and responsible parties have
assured us indirectly that this is in fact your proposal.Let me frankly state that I see two great difficulties with this proposal. In view of
your public position, such action on our part would inevitably produce worldwide
speculation that discussions were under way and would impair the privacy and secrecy of
those discussions. Secondly, there would inevitably be grave concern on our part whether
your government would make use of such action by us to improve its military position.With these problems in mind, I am prepared to move even further towards an ending of
hostilities than your Government has proposed in either public statements or through
private diplomatic channels. I am prepared to order a cessation of bombing against your
country and the stopping of further augmentation of U.S. forces in South Viet-Nam as soon
as I am assured that infiltration into South Viet-Nam by land and by sea has stopped.
These acts of restraint on both sides would, I believe, make it possible for us to conduct
serious and private discussions leading toward an early peace.I make this proposal to you now with a specific sense of urgency arising from the
imminent New Year holidays in Viet-Nam. If you are able to accept this proposal I see no
reason why it could not take effect at the end of the New Year, or Tet, holidays. The
proposal I have made would be greatly strengthened if your military authorities and those
of the Government of South Viet-Nam could promptly negotiate an extension of the Tet
truce.As to the site of the bilateral discussions I propose, there are several possibilities.
We could, for example, have our representatives meet in Moscow where contacts have already
occurred. They could meet in some other country such as Burma. You may have other
arrangements or sites in mind, and I would try to meet your suggestions.The important thing is to end a conflict that has brought burdens to both our peoples,
and above all to the people of South Viet-Nam. If you have any thoughts about the actions
I propose , it would be most important that I receive them as soon as possible.Sincerelv,Lyndon B. JohnsonPRESIDENT HO CHI MINH'S REPLY TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S LETTERFebruary 15, 1967Excellency, on February 10, 1967, I received your message. Here is my response.Viet-Nam is situated thousands of miles from the United States. The Vietnamese people
have never done any harm to the United States. But, contrary to the commitments made by
its representative at the Geneva Conference of 1954, the United States Government has
constantly intervened in Viet-Nam, it has launched and intensified the war of aggression
in South Viet-Nam for the purpose of prolonging the division of Viet-Nam and of
transforming South Viet-Nam into an American neo-colony and an American military base. For
more than two years now, the American Government, with its military aviation and its navy,
has been waging war against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, an independent and
sovereign country.The United States Government has committed war crimes, crimes against peace and against
humanity. In South Viet-Nam a half-million American soldiers and soldiers from the
satellite countries have resorted to the most inhumane arms and the most barbarous methods
of warfare, such as napalm, chemicals, and poison gases in order to massacre our fellow
countrymen, destroy the crops, and wipe out the villages. In North Viet-Nam thousands of
American planes have rained down hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs, destroying
cities, villages, mills, roads, bridges, dikes, dams and even churches, pagodas,
hospitals, and schools. In your message you appear to deplore the suffering and the
destruction in Viet-Nam. Permit me to ask you: Who perpetrated these monstrous crimes? It
was the American soldiers and the soldiers of the satellite countries. The United States
Government is entirely responsible for the extremely grave situation in Viet-Nam. . . .The Vietnamese people deeply love independence, liberty, and peace. But in the face of
the American aggression they have risen up as one man, without fearing the sacrifices and
the privations. They are determined to continue their resistance until they have won real
independence and liberty and true peace. Our just cause enjoys the approval and the
powerful support of peoples throughout the world and of large segments of the American
people.The United States Government provoked the war of aggression in Viet-Nam. It must cease
that aggression, it is the only road leading to the re-establishment of peace. The United
States Government must halt definitively and unconditionally the bombings and all other
acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, withdraw from South Viet-Nam all
American troops and all troops from the satellite countries, recognize the National Front
of the Liberation of South Viet-Nam and let the Vietnamese people settle their problems
themselves. Such is the basic content of the four-point position of the Government of the
Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, such is the statement of the essential principles and
essential arrangements of the Geneva agreements of 1954 on Viet-Nam. It is the basis for a
correct political solution of the Vietnamese problem. In your message you suggested direct
talks between the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the United States. If the United
States Government really wants talks, it must first halt unconditionally the bombings and
all other acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. It is only after the
unconditional halting of the American bombings and of all other American acts of war
against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam that the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and
the United States could begin talks and discuss questions affecting the two parties.The Vietnamese people will never give way to force, it will never accept conversation
under the clear threat of bombs.Our cause is absolutely just. It is desirable that the Government of the United States
act in conformity to reason.Sincerely,Ho Chi Minh
Source:from The Department of State Bulletin, LVI, No. 1450 (April 10, 1967),
pp. 595-597.
This text is part of the Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.
© Paul Halsall, July 1998
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 2 April 2023 [CV]
|
