Rhetorical Analysis Of Lyndon B. Johnson's Letter To Ho Chi Minh

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The Vietnam War brought many tears and casualties to both the United States and Vietnam. Millions of soldiers lost their lives in the time consuming battle. On February 8, 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote a letter to Ho Chi Minh, Dictator of Vietnam at the time. President Johnson’s letter expresses his hopes of ending this conflict that has gone on so long in Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh replied back on February 15, 1967 stating that it had been the United States that prolonged the wicked war. President Ho Chi Minh’s reply to President Johnson was the more persuasive of the two letters, because he appealed more to pathos, used stronger and bolder diction, and asked an important rhetorical question. In his reply to President Johnson’s Letter, Ho Chi Minh asks the rhetorical question “Permit to ask you: Who perpetrated these monstrous crimes?” Ho Chi Minh asks this rhetorical question to remind the Americans that the beginning of the Vietnam War had been their doing. After asking the question, Hoi Chi Minh states that the “United States Government is entirely responsible for the extremely grave situation in Vietnam.” He starts out …show more content…

He starts out his letter stating that “Vietnam is situated thousands of miles from the United States.” The usage of “thousands of miles” in the sentence brings up the question of why is the United States here in Vietnam in the first place. There is no reason for the United Sates to be in Vietnam. Moreover, Ho Chi Minh uses phrases like “most inhumane arms and the most barbarous methods of warfare” and “destroy the crops, and wipe out villages” in the second paragraph to appeal to pathos. Describing what horrible things had happened to Vietnam appeals to the readers’ emotions. The readers feel sympathy and empathy towards

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