South Viet Nam: The New Ky

Once there was a Vietnamese pilot-politician who wore a violet scarf with his jumpsuit, tossed off remarks about Hitler’s good points, and generally seemed to make himself the personification of a great deal that is wrong in Saigon. Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky is no longer so psychedelic in speech and dress. Still, he is such an easy target for peace partisans in the U.S. that when he was invited to address a pro-war rally in Washington in October, the Nixon Administration deflected the pre-election visit. As consolation, Henry Kissinger promised Ky an official invitation later for a tour of military installations and talks in Washington.

While collecting on his chit last week, Ky worked hard at disarming his critics and making an impression clearly pointed toward next year’s South Vietnamese elections. Ky had breakfast with President Nixon, highlighted by “a little chat” about politics in South Viet Nam, then withdrew for a 90-minute discussion with Kissinger.

No Hard Time. Next stop: the National Press Club, where he told reporters that he was a draftee with no “natural penchant for the martial career.” The suddenly moderate Ky ridiculed his image as a hawk (“Although I do fly, I have not very often thought of myself as a bird”) and played up his role as head of the South Vietnamese delegation to the Paris peace talks.

He then went to Capitol Hill to meet with some members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. When the closed meeting was over, even Senator J. William Fulbright had found mutual ground with Ky. “I told him that I have thought for a long time that all foreigners should get out of Viet Nam at the earliest possible date,” Fulbright reported. “Mr. Ky said that he couldn’t agree with me more.” Ky said, “Senator Fulbright didn’t give me a hard time.”

The possibility of Ky’s opposing President Nguyen Van Thieu was raised several times during the visit. Ky has chafed in the secondary role he has been forced to play during the past three years. Ky would like U.S. support—or at least neutrality—concerning his political ambitions. But one congenial encounter with Senator Fulbright is not likely to erase the liability of Ky’s old image, and that, coupled with President Nixon’s frequently stated respect for Thieu, probably makes his quest quite futile.