United States policy towards Indochina 1940-1945 : the rhythm of history

Abstract

This thesis has explored the early United States policy towards Indochina (later Vietnam), traced that policy through the World War II years, and evaluated how clearly that policy was established. Emphasis was placed on an evaluation of the trusteeship proposal of President Roosevelt, for it is held that that policy position demonstrated a rare insight into the course of history long before the rest of the world would come to accept the inevitability of nationalistic movements in the colonial world. With Roosevelt's death, the loss of this insight among high level policy-makers played a significant part in putting the United States on the road to Vietnam.