In Search of Victory part-12

 2nd December 1975,

Dear Diary,

                       After a humiliating to defeat to Jimmy Carter in the election, I, Gerald Ford, the current President of the United States, want to look back at my Presidential legacy. When I was handed over the presidency after the resignation of President Nixon, I was presiding over a turbulent period in the history of the United States. The Watergate scandal had significantly affected US politics and people were questioning their trust in the political institutions of America. The scandal of the Pentagon papers which had revealed our secret actions in Argentina and Vietnam added fuel to the fire as both Argentinization and Vietnamization had failed and we had no option but to remove troops from both the countries and accept a humiliating defeat in both Argentina and Vietnam. The aftermath of our leaving the two countries did not end well for either as Saigon was captured by the rebels in September and Buenos Aires fell in October.

 Therefore as I look back upon my presidency, I have cut a very sorry figure. Although we have established favourable regimes in both Bolivia and Paraguay, most of Latin America still remains Communist and bars entry to American companies which entails heavy losses for US businesses which are without the cheap labour and resources of Latin America. Our main ally in the Middle East, Israel is still facing a significant challenge from the Arabs and despite the very best efforts of Henry Kissinger, my Secretary of State, peace has not come in that region.  Tensions have also erupted in Nato over the Turkish invasion of Greece this year and our continuing arms sales to Turkey, I have vetoed congress bills asking for the removal of military aid to Turkey so that our relations are not strained but Greece has withdrawn from NATO and has joined the Warsaw Pact which poses serious questions to the stability of Europe.

    The Khmer Rouge has also seized power in Cambodia which further threatens our interests in South East Asia as now Vietnam and Cambodia are trying to form a nexus with the guerillas of Laos against our interests in the region. Vietnam is already providing support to the rebels in Indonesia so that they can overthrow Suharto who remains a staunch US ally and our pivot in South East Asia. In fact, it can be said that Vietnam with Russian support is planning to create and support guerilla outfits in all the South East Asian countries in order to oust the governments favourable to us and create an anti-US nexus in the region. This alliance if formed can rival the US-China nexus in the region which can have very serious repercussions for our continuing access to the resource-rich South China Sea. Therefore the times are tough for the United States and hopefully, Jimmy Carter can succeed where I failed. Long live America!