I’m nearing the final stages of my second MA degree. As my thesis precariously hangs in the balance at the whims of “The Committee”, I thought I’d post the ABSTRACT to give you an idea of what it’s all about. Surprise, surprise. Vietnam found its way in there somehow. (This is going to be a hot seller, isn’t it?)

The policy makers of the United States at the end of World War II had no idea how their decisions would influence the latter half of the twentieth century. President Franklin Roosevelt was reluctant to help the French reclaim Indochina from Japanese imperialism, often stating the views that the French colonial empire needed to release its grip on the region they had exploited for a century. However, with Roosevelt’s death in April 1945, the Truman administration shifted policy to favor the Europeanists in his administration which ultimately spelled doom for the anti-colonial views of Roosevelt.  President Roosevelt’s death provided a significant blow to the peoples of Indochina regarding political self-determination, setting a course for the Vietnam War of two decades later.