--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I first became interested in Ho Chi Minh…" description: "\"I first became interested in Ho Chi Minh in 1964-1965 while I was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam as a foreign service officer with the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/william-j-duiker-21821_administration_i-first-became-interested-in-ho-chi-minh_2609137.jpg" --- # I first became interested in Ho Chi Minh in 1964-1965… ![“I first became interested in Ho Chi Minh in 1964-1965 while I was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam as a foreign service officer with the Department of State. The government in Saigon was at the point of collapse and the [Lyndon] Johnson administration was preparing to send U.S…” quote by William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/william-j-duiker-21821_administration_i-first-became-interested-in-ho-chi-minh_2609137.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/william-j-duiker-21821_administration_i-first-became-interested-in-ho-chi-minh_2609137.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/william-j-duiker-21821_administration_i-first-became-interested-in-ho-chi-minh_2609137.jpg) > “I first became interested in Ho Chi Minh in 1964-1965 while I was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam as a foreign service officer with the Department of State. The government in Saigon was at the point of collapse and the \[Lyndon\] Johnson administration was preparing to send U.S. combat troops to prevent a communist victory there. I became convinced that the U.S. effort would not succeed because of the lack of conviction in the Saigon government compared to the discipline and sense of self-sacrifice among the Viet Cong.” [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The U.S. failed in Vietnam due to weak local conviction versus disciplined Viet Cong resolve. **In simple terms:** U.S. effort lacked local belief, unlike Viet Cong. Key Takeaway Learn from history to build local conviction. Themes history politics military leadership Mood reflective serious Type historical political When to use this quote - policy planning - foreign aid - community engagement Key Concepts nation‑building conviction discipline Questions to Reflect On - How can modern interventions foster local belief? - What lessons apply to current conflicts? A Different Perspective Historical contexts differ today. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Administration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/administration/) [Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collapse/) [Combat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combat/) [Communist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communist/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Convinced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convinced/) [Department](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/department/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Embassy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embassy/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Foreign service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-service/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Saigon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-saigon-2011727/) [Ho Chi Minh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ho-chi-minh/) [Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/johnson/) [Officers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officers/) [Preparing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preparing/) [Sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrifice/) [Saigon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saigon/) [Saigon Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saigon-government-2011726/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-sacrifice/) [Sense of self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-self/) [South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south/) [South Vietnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south-vietnam-850775/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Troops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/troops/) [Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory/) [Viet cong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viet-cong/) [Vietnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vietnam/) [Vietnam Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vietnam-foreign-2011728/) ## Related quotes > [ I did not feel - in President \[J.F.\] Kennedy's words - that we could win the war for \[the government in Saigon\]. When I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/i-did-not-feel-in-president-j-f-kennedy-s-words-that-we-could-win-the/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [“Every day when I walk the streets of this city, I am just that. I am an Indochinese laborer, generalized and indiscriminate, easily spotted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/every-day-when-i-walk-the-streets-of-this-city-i-am-just-that-i-am-an/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“Saigon was loved precisely because it was so unlovable - its squalor, its biblical, Job-like misfortune, its imminent, hoevering doom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatjana-soli/saigon-was-loved-precisely-because-it-was-so-unlovable-its-squalor/) [Tatjana Soli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatjana-soli/) > [Nobody gives way to anybody. Everyone just angles, points, dives directly toward his destination, pretending it is an all-or-nothing gamble. People glare at one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-x-pham/nobody-gives-way-to-anybody-everyone-just-angles-points-dives/) [Andrew X. Pham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-x-pham/) > [Saigon is hot, full of atmosphere, activity, and commerce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-fraser/saigon-is-hot-full-of-atmosphere-activity-and-commerce/) [Brendan Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-fraser/) > [In the modern operas that 'Miss Saigon' and 'Les Miz' are, nobody breaks out into song from conventional book dialogue. Everything is sung from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lea-salonga/in-the-modern-operas-that-miss-saigon-and-les-miz-are-nobody-breaks/) [Lea Salonga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lea-salonga/) > [When helicopters were snatching people from the grounds of the American embassy compound during the panic of the final Vietcong push into Saigon, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/when-helicopters-were-snatching-people-from-the-grounds-of-the/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [Saigon was an addicted city, and we were the drug: the corruption of children, the mutilation of young men, the prostitution of women, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/saigon-was-an-addicted-city-and-we-were-the-drug-the-corruption-of/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [The International Control Commission isn't doing anything, it's never done anything. What good does it do to be on it or not? Before opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/the-international-control-commission-isn-t-doing-anything-it-s-never/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [Saigon, U.S.A. aptly documents the birth of a new American community, uprooted in the aftermath of war and forever torn apart by the wounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nguyen-qui-duc/saigon-u-s-a-aptly-documents-the-birth-of-a-new-american-community/) [Nguyen Qui Duc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nguyen-qui-duc/) > [ One book that I heard was circulating the Green Zone was "Bureaucracy Does Its Thing" by Robert Komer , who worked for President \[Lindon\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/one-book-that-i-heard-was-circulating-the-green-zone-was-bureaucracy/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [“Helen's Saigon had always been about selling - chickens, information, or lovely young women, it didn't matter. It had once been called the Pearl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatjana-soli/helen-s-saigon-had-always-been-about-selling-chickens-information-or/) [Tatjana Soli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatjana-soli/) > [“When I crawled down the rabbit hole into the pivotal event of my life--indeed the pivotal event of my generation--to write "Escape from Saigon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-pirozzolo/when-i-crawled-down-the-rabbit-hole-into-the-pivotal-event-of-my-life/) [Dick Pirozzolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-pirozzolo/) > ['Miss Saigon' was my first professional show. It was one of the first regional productions of 'Miss Saigon.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-donnell/miss-saigon-was-my-first-professional-show-it-was-one-of-the-first/) [Colin Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-donnell/) > [A first novel of astonishing force, craft and beauty, The Headmaster's Wager conjures up a dizzyingly evocative wartime Saigon in the story of Percival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-y-k-lee-2/a-first-novel-of-astonishing-force-craft-and-beauty-the-headmaster-s/) [Janice Y. K. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-y-k-lee-2/) ## More by William J. Duiker > [ In the end, many of his more militant colleagues began to feel that \[Ho Chi Minh's\] tendency to compromise, and his reluctance to confront… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/in-the-end-many-of-his-more-militant-colleagues-began-to-feel-that-ho/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [There were various aspects of Sun Tzu's approach that appealed to Ho Chi Minh: a) to learn to understand both the enemy and yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/there-were-various-aspects-of-sun-tzu-s-approach-that-appealed-to-ho/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [None of Ho Chi Minh's colleagues was as dedicated to the use of political struggle, psychological warfare, and diplomatic means as he was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/none-of-ho-chi-minh-s-colleagues-was-as-dedicated-to-the-use-of/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ From the outset, when \[Ho Chi Minh\] became a member of the French Communist Party in 1920, he was an independent thinker who adjusted… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/from-the-outset-when-ho-chi-minh-became-a-member-of-the-french/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [The influence of Sun Tzu on other North Vietnamese military strategists is harder to answer. Certainly many of the key leaders in Hanoi were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/the-influence-of-sun-tzu-on-other-north-vietnamese-military/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ \[Dissidents\] groups would benefit enormously from learning about Ho Chi Minh's ideas on how to defeat a more popular enemy. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/dissidents-groups-would-benefit-enormously-from-learning-about-ho-chi/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ If \[Ho Chi Minh\] had had carte blanche over his movement, would the results of the war have been different? That is difficult to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/if-ho-chi-minh-had-had-carte-blanche-over-his-movement-would-the/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ Finally, in 1954 \[Ho Chi Minh\] agreed to the Geneva Agreement, which divided the country temporarily into two zones, in the hope that national… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/finally-in-1954-ho-chi-minh-agreed-to-the-geneva-agreement-which/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [Ho Chi Minh was well aware that the enemy possessed more firepower than did his own forces, and sought to use what he viewed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/ho-chi-minh-was-well-aware-that-the-enemy-possessed-more-firepower/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ On many occasions in the late 1950s and 1960s, \[Ho Chi Minh's\] ideas were apparently ignored by those who felt that his approach was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/on-many-occasions-in-the-late-1950s-and-1960s-ho-chi-minh-s-ideas/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [I decided that after returning to the US to pursue an academic career I would eventually study the life of Ho Chi Minh to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/i-decided-that-after-returning-to-the-us-to-pursue-an-academic-career/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [Ho Chi Minh preferred to use the tactics of negotiation and compromise, primarily because of his recognition that the revolutionary movement was militarily weaker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/ho-chi-minh-preferred-to-use-the-tactics-of-negotiation-and/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ I would hazard the statement that in the broad sense \[Ho Chi Minh's\] ideas had triumphed, since the communist victory in Vietnam was a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/i-would-hazard-the-statement-that-in-the-broad-sense-ho-chi-minh-s/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [Ho Chi Minh rarely wrote about Sun Tzu, but when he did mention the ancient Chinese military strategist, he was always laudatory, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/ho-chi-minh-rarely-wrote-about-sun-tzu-but-when-he-did-mention-the/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [ Ho Chi Minh sought to defeat both adversaries \[French and American\] primarily by using diplomatic and political means, combined with paramilitary activities. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/ho-chi-minh-sought-to-defeat-both-adversaries-french-and-american/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) [Explore all 28 William J. Duiker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) ## More Administration quotes > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. 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