203. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State 1
745. CINCPAC/POLAD exclusive for Admiral Felt. Secretary Thuan sought me out at a reception Friday evening.2 When we were seated off to one side, he said:
“The President wanted me to ask you whether Washington had reached any decision regarding resumption of commercial imports.”
He then continued without a pause, but with a pleasant smile on his face:
“And I told him I believed they had not. Is that right?”
After I said that as far as I knew no decision had been reached, he said, again with a broad grin on his face:
“That’s what I thought and told the President. I will tell him that that’s what you think.”
After a few desultory remarks I said that I had great hope that the time would come when I would be able to show by my actions the strong feelings of friendship which I have for Viet-Nam. He said:
“I have faith that all of this is going to work out so that your mission will be a great success. I don’t know how or when but I think it will be soon.”
He then asked me what I thought about the statements Madame Nhu was making on her trip. Before I had even a chance to answer he said:
“Why does she have to say such things as her remark that all the people around President Kennedy are pink?”
I said that I did not know but the one thing I was sure of was that in a country like the United States where public opinion counts for so much, it is a very serious matter when two persons as prominent as Mr. and Mrs. Nhu get such consistently bad publicity. It was for this reason that I had advised that they drop out of sight for a while and simply be quiet. It was evident they had not taken my advice but I felt it was all too clear that my advice has been good.