Word: bunkerisms
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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THERE was always something fundamentally unworkable about the script for South Viet Nam's presidential elections in October. Authored in part by U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, the plan called for an earnestly contested race among three candidates-President Nguyen Van Thieu, Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky and retired four-star General Duong Van ("Big") Minh. If Thieu won a reasonably honest election, the scenario went, the Administration could declare Vietnamization a resounding success and step up the pace of its withdrawal from the longest war in U.S. history...
...presidency, abruptly pulled out of the campaign, charging that the election was a "disgusting farce" blatantly rigged by the Presidential Palace. The only other potential rival, Ky, had already been shut out-at least "provisionally"-by a highly restrictive election law. Then, after a palace showdown between Bunker and Thieu following Big Minh's withdrawal, the nine justices of South Viet Nam's Supreme Court met and ruled that Ky could qualify as a candidate after all. Ostensibly, what had started as a three-man campaign and then come down to one was now to become...
...winnowing out the frivolous candidates; after all, there were no fewer than eleven hopefuls in the 1967 election, which Thieu won with a bare 35% of the vote. When it finally dawned that the man Thieu most wanted to winnow out was Ky, alarm spread through the U.S. embassy. Bunker repeatedly warned Thieu that it might look bad all round if the Vice President were squeezed out of the race. But when the Aug. 4 filing deadline came around, Thieu sat quietly while the Supreme Court ruled out Ky for lack of sufficient certified endorsements...
...Minh, Thieu's only official opponent, is seriously considering withdrawing from the race. That, of course, would reduce the contest to the level of farce, a situation which might in turn force the U.S. to hasten its withdrawal from Viet Nam. Largely for that reason, U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker flew to Washington last week to discuss ways of keeping Minh in the running...
Will Minh now withdraw and turn the election into a farcical no-contest? The U.S. embassy, appalled at the prospect, is putting heavy pressure on him to stay in the race. As a measure of U.S. concern, Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker arrives in Washington this week for consultations at the White House, and it is safe to assume that the situation will be a major item on the agenda. The signs are that, at least for the time being, Minh will stay. Says his running mate, Saigon Physician Ho Van ("Little") Minh, 35, who is no kin: "Ky's elimination...