Word: thieu
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...electoral debacle pointed up the U.S.'s declining leverage in Saigon. The U.S. embassy in Saigon badly underestimated what Ky acidly describes as Thieu's "excessive attachment to power"-a syndrome that is not unknown to Ky and Minh, who have both held power with U.S. backing in the past. The flaw in the U.S. thinking was that no one foresaw how far Thieu was willing to go to ensure his own reelection...
...Thieu's principal weapon was a tough election law that he rammed through the National Assembly last June. The law required potential candidates to collect written endorsements from at least 40 of the 191 National Assemblymen or from at least 100 of the country's 550 provincial councilmen. Thieu blandly assured U.S. officials that the law was aimed merely at 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...
...withdrawing, U.S. disappointment over Ky's disqualification turned into dismay. Minh had won a wide following as a patriot and nationalist and was sensitive to charges that he was in the race mainly because the U.S. put him up to it. Unless the U.S. did something to curb Thieu's immense advantages in the campaign, Minh warned Bunker, he would pull...
...measure of U.S. concern was evident when Bunker hastened to Washington for several days of talks. It was decided that Bunker should warn Thieu "on the highest authority"-meaning straight from Richard Nixon-that the Administration would be deeply disturbed if the election turned into a fiasco. Congress, Bunker was to emphasize, might balk at continuing aid to Saigon if Thieu ran unopposed...
Bunker returned to Saigon last week and delivered his message to Thieu, then went on to Big Minh's villa a few blocks away. But Minh was not convinced of Bunker's power to put a rein on Thieu's ambition. Next morning, Minh's spokesmen announced his withdrawal...