751G.00/5–1653
The Ambassador in France (Dillon) to the President1
Dear Mr. President: I have just received your letter of May 6th,2 giving your views on the situation in Indo-China. The Secretary of State had previously forwarded the contents of your letter by telegram, and I had the opportunity of discussing your views in general with René Mayer. The telegram containing your views reached me just after the announcement of General Navarre’s appointment, so I did not mention General Valluy by name in my talk with Mayer. However, Mayer discussed with me, on his own volition, various people who had been considered, among them, General Valluy, and said that his name had finally been removed from consideration because of his unpopularity with the local Viet Nam population. This unpopularity came about because of certain strong measures he had had to take when he was in Indo-China in 1946. The Prime Minister said that General Navarre, whom he knew well, was his personal choice, and he was sure that he would fill the position in the manner desired by you. He commented particularly on his forcefulness and daring, and also on his long experience in the field of military intelligence which Mayer said had fallen down badly in Indo-China.
Mayer was also much impressed by your suggestion that France should make clearer to the world the fact that they intended to leave Indo-China as soon as the war was over. He said that he would try to make such declarations whenever appropriate occasions arose. I think you will also be interested in hearing that, at lunch yesterday, I had an opportunity to talk about Indo-China with Edgar Faure, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French Assembly. He expressed the exact same views as were contained in your letter without any urging from me. As he put it, France was acting in good faith in Indo-China, but because of bad public relations, she gave the appearance of acting in bad faith. He felt that the only cure was continual public repetition of the French intention to leave Indo-China after the war. He even went so far as to say that the question of Indo-China’s remaining within the French Union should be decided by the Indo-Chinese people themselves after the war was finished.
[Page 568]Your letter has been and will continue to be most helpful to me in my talks on this subject with members of the French Government and Parliament.
With best personal regards,
Sincerely,