For the first time, the letter President Ho Chi Minh responded to US President Nixon just 8 days before his passing is published

For the first time, the letter which is saved by US National Archives and Record Administration, is published in an exhibition in Hanoi, to mark 50 years of implementation of Uncle Ho’s testament.

The exhibition displays over 100 precious documents about Uncle Ho

During his last days, despite his impaired heath, Uncle Ho’s faith and spirit were still fully devoted to the country and people of Vietnam.

After the Tet Offensive in 1969, the US suffered heavy losses in the Vietnam War. This failure has profoundly affected the US political situation. President Richard Nixon on the day he took office as President of United States (January 20, 1969) described American society as a crisis.

“We have found ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit; reaching with magnificent precision for the moon, but falling into raucous discord on earth.

We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by pision, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them.”

On July 15, 1969, President Nixon had to ‘lower himself’ sending a letter to President Ho Chi Minh, expressing the desire to discuss for peace in Vietnam.

The letter of President Nixon to President Ho Chi Minh

“I deeply believe that the war in Vietnam has gone on too long and delay in bringing it to an end can benefit no one – least of all the people of Vietnam.”

This time has come to move forward at the conference table toward an early resolution of this tragic war. You will find us forthcoming and open-minded in a common effort to bring the blessing of peace to the brave people of Vietnam. Let history record that at this critical juncture, both sides turned their face toward peace rather than conflict and war.’’

Contrary to what he said in the letter, US kept ravaging Vietnam. On August 25, 1969, President Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter in response to President Nixon.

In a determined tone, he accused the United States of a “war of aggression” against the Vietnamese people, “violating our fundamental national rights” and warned that “the longer the war goes on, the more it accumulates the mourning and burdens of the American people.” Uncle Ho demanded the United States to cease the war and withdraw their troops from South Vietnam and allow self-determination for the Vietnamese people.

President Ho Chi Minh responds to President Nixon

“Our Vietnamese people value peace, a genuine peace rooted in true independence and freedom. The people of Vietnam are determined to fight to the end, without fear of sacrifice or hardship in order to protect their nation and their inviolable rights. The complete solution started in the Ten Points offered by the national Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam form a fair and reasonable basis for settling the problem of Vietnam; that solution has received the sympathy and support of the world’s people.

In your letter, you expressed your will to work for a just peace. If you wish this, then the United States must stop its aggressive war, withdraw its soldiers from South Vietnam, and respect the right of the people of the South and the Vietnamese nation to self-determination without foreign intervention. That is the truth to solve the Vietnam problem in accordance with the Vietnamese people’s national rights, American interests, and the wish for peace of the world’s people.”

However, this request was not approved until Dien Bien Phu Victory in 1972. In January 1973, Paris negotiations were resumed. The US accepted the withdrawal of troops from South Vietnam, acknowledging the basic national rights of Vietnam.

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