William Trueheart

Infobox Person
name = William Trueheart


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = 18 December 1918
birth_place = Chester, Virginia
death_date = 24 December 1992
death_place = Washington, D.C.
occupation = Retired diplomat
spouse = Phoebe Trueheart
parents =
children = Charles & Joshua Trueheart

William Trueheart (December 18, 1918 – December 24, 1992) was a diplomat of the United States. Serving as the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 1969–1971, he is better known for being the acting U.S. Ambassador and chargé d'affaires of South Vietnam from May–July 1963.

In office, Trueheart was notable for being the deputy head of mission immediately before the dramatic increase in U.S. involvement in 1965; a consequence of the Gulf of Tonkin incident which had been a conspiracy by the then U.S. President, Lyndon B. Johnson in an attempt to secure Congress endorsements for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. During this time, Trueheart deputised for Frederick Nolting, and because of his early involvement, was one of the first American diplomats to raise the concern of the possible liability of Ngô Ðình Diệm's government in South Vietnam, noted as "let [ting] loose the floodgates of doubt". [cite news
title = W. C. Trueheart, 74, Ex-Diplomat in Saigon
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE4DE123CF93BA15751C1A964958260&scp=1&sq=william%20trueheart&st=cse
format = Obituary
work = The New York Times
date = December 28, 1992 ]

This period of the Vietnam Conflict (1959 – April 30, 1975) marked the reversal of Nolting's towards the autocratic regime of Diem; the U.S. involvement being marred by the widely-reported, and escalation of the buddhist crisis.

Historical context

In October 1955, following a fraudulent referendum in which Diem had secured 98.2% of the vote, the Republic of Vietnam was established (known generally known as South Vietnam) in which Diem declared himself President. [Jacobs, p. 95.] Stemming from this impossibility, Trueheart was shown to have little or no faith in the autocracy of the Diem government in South Vietnam, noted variously as to have been part of a "get Diem faction", [cite web|url=http://history-matters.com/essays/vietnam/KennedyVietnam1971/KennedyVietnam1971.htm|title=The Kennedy Assassination and the Vietnam War (1971)|publisher=History Matters|accessdate=2008-10-07] and rebuking Diem with the fact that he would lose American support if the oppression of the Buddhist monks continued. [cite web|url=http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Lf3Jxg1LH9oJ:www.wvculture.org/HiStory/journal_wvh/wvh51-2.html+early+life+of+william+trueheart,+vietnam&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=uk|title=Online version (cached for emphasis) of "The Charleston Gazette's Editorial Response to the Vietnam War"|publisher=West Virginia history|accessdate=2008-10-07] At this stage, during the mid 1960s, the media had become an integral part of the reporting of news in the Vietnam conflict with most infractions and incidents highlighted in national news. [cite web|url=http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/1987/april/Sa11787.htm|title=Television Reporting of the Vietnam War; or Did Walter Cronkite Really Lose the War?|publisher=The World and I|accessdate=2008-10-07|date=2004] Polarisation between Diem and the Buddhists grew worse on June 11, 1963 when Thích Quảng Đức set himself alight in the process of self-immolation.

Political career

Trueheart's position as the deputy chief of mission for the United States, was to involve himself in the political turmoil which South Vietnam had had to embrace after the forced coup d'etat of Emperor Bao Dai in 1955. He did not start in the area until May 1963 when Nolting was on a resting period from the position. [cite web|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lVhI-H-W5D0C&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=Trueheart+as+a+deputy+1963&source=web&ots=I0bXIaqSV2&sig=ala1Pta03ohJ50vHY-I2Fk3JfX4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA68,M1|title=Google Books hosting "Vietnam and Beyond" - Page 68|publisher=GoogleBooks|accessdate=2008-10-07] Diem's assassination later in November 1963, just before that of the President John F. Kennedy, was favoured by Trueheart but he had admitted there were no better alternatives within the Vietnamese theatre whilst also indicating that it was possible that "half [the peasants] don't know who Diem is". [cite web|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FVEMGFWe5qoC&pg=PA107&dq=william+trueheart,+vietnam&ei=uLfrSLCDJprStQO1pujLBg&sig=ACfU3U2r6gDnE5SVEn7az8k1SGxCP-nREA#PPA68,M1|title=Google Books hosting of "Mansfield and Vietnam: A Study in Rhetorical Adaptation"|publisher=Google Books|accessdate=2008-10-07] However, this was immediately contradicted by his superior, Nolting stating emphatically that [Diem's] picture was "everywhere".harvnb|Jacobs|2006|p=147.]

Notes

Bibliography

*citation| first=Seth |last=Jacobs| year=2006| title=Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Lanham| isbn=0-7425-4447-8
*
*cite book| title=Vietnam: A History| first=Stanley |last=Karnow |authorlink=Stanley Karnow| year=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books | isbn=0-670-84218-4
*cite book|first=Seth|last=Jacobs|year=2006|title=Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America’s War in Vietnam, 1950–1963|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=0-7425-4447-8
*cite news|title=The Charleston Gazette's Editorial Response to the Vietnam War, 1963–1965|publisher=The Charleston Gazette|date=1992
*cite book|first=Gregory|last=Olsen|year=1995|title=Mansfield and Vietnam: A Study in Rhetorical Adaptation|publisher=MSU Press|isbn=0-8701-3386-1