Ho chi minh city,1955.

Let's see, several million less dead and maimed in SE Asia vs OTL?
Far less ecological damage from defoliants and no 100's of kilotons of hazardous UXO scattered from all the iron we dropped on the Plain of Jars and other spots during the bombing campaigns?

The USA doesn't face-plant itself to the tune of 60,000 dead and 300,000+ disabled veterans and ~200 billion dollars (in 1970 dollars)?
If played well, American companies get access to Vietnam and we get bases at Cam Ranh and Da Nang anyway?

I don't pretend the North Vietnamese were saints by any stretch. Plenty of GIs captured by the NVA were tortured and abused in captivity. They weren't any nicer to political opponents when they took over, but compared to the Khmer Rouge, they were models of sanity and restraint.

However, IMO, this'd have been a lot better than OTL.
 
Truman wouldn't do it? Really?

How about having the French back down?

I don't pretend the North Vietnamese were saints by any stretch. Plenty of GIs captured by the NVA were tortured and abused in captivity.

Other way around same, less war is always better. No matter if you are NVA or USA. Look at Syria now.
 
Truman wouldn't do it? Really?

How about having the French back down?
Truman supported the French, but once they had lost he considered the deal done. He would've tried to make Ho Chi Minh an Asian Tito, instead of going the route of "these Republican boys, they seem to want us to send us to war in Indochina."
 
I'm going to add that I don't think Ho Chi Minh had such a bloated ego that he'd want a city named after himself - at least not while he was still alive.
 

pnyckqx

Banned
I'm going to add that I don't think Ho Chi Minh had such a bloated ego that he'd want a city named after himself - at least not while he was still alive.
Pretty much spot on. It would still be called Saigon. The question is whether or not it would become the Capitol of Vietnam.
 
Given that the Communist party was focused around Hanoi and even in this much shorter timeline would have set up their power bases there, I doubt it.
 

pnyckqx

Banned
Given that the Communist party was focused around Hanoi and even in this much shorter timeline would have set up their power bases there, I doubt it.
It does seem just a bit too far south, but i would think that the Capitol would be moved somewhere else for easier access to as many areas of the country as practicable. Hanoi to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is still quite a trip for the present state of travel in Vietnam.


 
Well you could always go with Hue - the former Imperial Capital before the French came along. Dead middle of the country (well not exactly, but pretty much). And if any city could be renamed, that would be a good candidate due to its previous imperial past.
 

pnyckqx

Banned
Well you could always go with Hue - the former Imperial Capital before the French came along. Dead middle of the country (well not exactly, but pretty much). And if any city could be renamed, that would be a good candidate due to its previous imperial past.
i was thinking maybe Da Nang. It's a nice costal city.
 
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