page_title: November 1968
section_title: November 2, 1968 (Saturday)
hierarchical_section_title: November 1968 / November 2, 1968 (Saturday)
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell
context_page_description: The following events occurred in November 1968:
context_section_description: An FBI document of a conversation between two Nixon campaign workers, future Attorney General John Mitchell and Asian-American lobbyist Anna Chennault confirmed her discussion that she had contacted South Vietnam ambassador to the U.S. Bui Diem to confirm that South Vietnam would avoid participating in the Paris Peace Talks.  An author would later describe this as Chennault and Mitchell "conducting a private foreign policy", a violation of United States law.
  South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu derailed what appeared to be the beginning of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War by announcing "a wildly cheering session of the National Assembly" that South Vietnam would refuse to participate in the Paris Peace Talks agreed to by the United States, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong.  "The Republic of Vietnam government is very sorry that such conditions for direct and serious talks between us and Hanoi," Thieu told legislators, "have not yet come about.  And therefore, the Republic of Vietnam cannot participate in the present Paris conference."  At the same time, North Vietnamese negotiators in Paris said that it was up to the United States to guarantee that South Vietnam would join the peace talks.
caption: Mitchell
exif: {}