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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-05574 to 363-05579.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-05574 to 363-05579
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Title
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Article about life in turbulent South Vietnam
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Description
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Keever's title: "'A spicy way to live': U.S. General-Turned-Ambassador Taylor sees Vietnam", article about life in turbulent South Vietnam, as said by American Ambassador Maxwell D. Taylor as "a constant surprise" and a "a spicy way to live"
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Transcript
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deepe
taylor-1
Nov 28
SAIGON--Not long ago, American Ambassador Maxwell
Davenport Taylor described life in this turbulent capital city as
11/1
"a constant surprise" and a
"a spicy way to live."
Saigonese often remark that things get even "spe spicier
when he leaves the country. They recall during his September
absence from Viet Nam, tanks and troops marched through the streets
in the September 13th "Hollo "Hollywood coup." And as he only hours
after departed Saigon last week, vicious street fighting between
rookhurling schoolboys and teargass-tossing police and paratroopers
broke out, causing tens of casualties.
As the soldier-diplomat continues his top-level policy
review with President Lyndon B. Johnson, Saigonese are expecting even
more changes--perhaps even bombing of North Viet Nam.
(More)
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deepe
taylor--2
"It's one thing to be a frequent visitor,"
Ambassadr
Ambassador Taylor explained noting that he had in previous years
watched Vietnamese developments in Washington, "and another thing to
live here. My impressions are different in degree but not in kind.
Life in Saigon is a constant surprise.
There's nothing dull about it.
If variety is the speic spice of life,
The 63-year-old Ambassador
this is a spicy way to live."
has been called thunk a rebel
in the Pentagon during the 1950's when he sought to re-shape
American military thinking away from predominant reliance of the
"massive retaliation" of nuclear weaponry towards greater "flexible
response" to meet many kinds of warfare.
He lost the battle and resigned, only to be re-appointed
to powerful post under President Kennedy in 1961.
Taylor himself, with a slight laugh, however refuted
this and said "I wasn't the robol. I was quite orthodox; the
others were the heretics.
"We had had experience in guerrilla warfare in Greece...and I
thought this kind of warfare was in the cards for the future. We saw it also
in the Philippines and Malaysia, where I visited the British during
their emergency.
It was apparent to many this new kind of warfare was the
war of the fur future. Wo (Washington military and political leaders) did
a considerable amount of work on guerrilla warfare before an involvement
At the outset, we
have the sense of urgency about it that we do now."
but my regret is we didn't do more.
in South East Asi
didn'
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taylor-3
Taylor's four-month tenure in the wooden-anol paneled
Ambassador's Office on the fifth floor of the American E Embassy here
has caused a mixed reaction among the Vietnamese and Americans lixingx
living here.
While are all are in common agreement that the political
situation has plummeted downwards since his July arrival, some I say
that Taylor would have had to be a "mirac "miracle worker" to have
salvaged any sort of stabli stability out of the massive in-fighting
among Vietnamese an factions, some of which are suspected of being
Communist penetrated.
Others have a lukewarma attitude to him. "He's done nothing
to be congratulated for or reproached for," one Vietnamese captain laughed.
"He tried to please everyone-the generals, the politicians, the Buddhists,
the Catholics,
SUCCEED
No one can suceed in that."
Many in the American community either openly blame i him for
"stiffness and lack of imagination" during the prolonged state of
crisis over the past several months.
uncertain trumpet," a reference
One called him "the original
to his polemic book called "The
Uncertain Trumphet," named after a Biblical quotation "For if the
trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the
battle?"
(More)
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taylor--4
Whatever the improab improbabilities
one of out-intriguing
the Vietnamese in their course towards political self-destric destruction,
American observers here note two specific effects of Taylor's tone
brief tenure in office. One is that Taylor's tenure has practically
nuf nullified the tenure of his preces predecessor, Henry Cabot Lodge.
Taylor's attempts to help the assist the stability of the current civilian
a reversal when in
government is viewed here as late August of last year wher
Washington officials and Lodge in Saigon wit withdrew support from
Ameri
Ngo Dinh Diem
WERE
heeking another civilian government headed by
Thx It was under Lodge that Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh came to
power in the qi civilian government-and four five of Vietnam's most
competent generals 'exiled in a mountain resort city on charges they
at toy
es Suggestion
ten months later, these
were attempting to neutralize Viet Nam.
Now,
five generals have again been returned to powerful positions in the army.
Under Lodge, the systematic program of American economic aid to the
provinces continued to flourish--despite two coup d'etats. Now,
as
even more political instability has diseased Viet Nam, this system is
in the process of change and the traditional form of working through
government ministeries withhmm is again slated to be re-instated.
The second effort o effect of the Taylor tenure--which has
also hindered Taylor-is that the current political instability on the
Vietnamese house has been accompanied by a little-noticed "American coup"
Mission
in the American house. There has been such a rapid turnover of American
personnel--in the highest echelons--of each key f American agency (More)
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deepe
taylor-5
that a current = American joke here is "If my boss calls, get his name."
In some key sections of the American Embassy, only one person
has been there For in Viet Nam for more than two weeks. In the more
than 50 American employees of the United States Information Agency, none
WERE
have been themansheam in Viet Nam before the beginning of this year.
In the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID)
w saw simultaneous changes in the personnel of the director of the
agency plus the & important associate director for rural operations and they
are now battling each other.
Some of these personnel changes were initiated under Lodge,
they peaked with the arrival of Taylor in July July, which has caused
a lack of continuity in day-to-day policy details.
implementation of
but
policy.
Long-time specialists in foreign embasi embassies are were
aga slightly less than appale appalled at the "lack of an institutional
"everyone is now trying to solve the problems with the
same solutions we tried three years ago-the solutions did not work them
and will not work now,"
memory
Despite the pressures of his assignment, Taylor has been
occasionally seen entering the Embassy whistling an incoherent tune with
his jacket flopped over one shoulder. At home, he occasionally has
a scotch-soda or gimlet before dinner. A safe has been installed in his
home so that he can carry classified documents with him to read after work;
on weekends he carries home three to five-inches worth of fat reports (in the
Pentagon, he used to carry home a suitcase
of material for the week-end).
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taylor-6
He drives around Saigon in a Chrysler "that was dredgedit up"
from a mission warehouse; his Cadillacs "was falling apart with a
broken the transmission," an associate explained. He is covered by
a ni'n minimum of security officials, though barbed wire barricades block
off the street on which he lives. Unlike his predecessor, he does not
carry a weapon. Occasional intelligence reports are received that the
Viet Cong Commuji Communist terrorists will try to assassinate him, but
he appears unconcerned and refuses to change his shodu schedule of
activities.
Taylor is still agile and handsome at 63-a young waitress
at an American military instat installation reportedly told him once
at lunch, "You No. 1 sexy." Despite a sprained knee, the tall
Missiouian still enjoys swimming and a ides regularly schedule
tennis matches for him.
"He wins more games than he loses," one aid said, "but
he does not win them all."
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Date
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1964, Nov. 28
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Taylor, Maxwell D. (Maxwell Davenport), 1901-1987; United States--Foreign relations--Vietnam (Republic); Civilians in war
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B187, F1
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
