The Foreign Service Journal, April 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2015 27 At the White House: Watergate Arriving in May 1974, I found the White House beset by the issue that would ultimately play a very significant part in the demise of South Vietnam: Watergate. Less than three months later, I would be standing in the East Room watching Richard Nixon give his farewell address to the nation. Vice President Gerald Ford would inherit a weakened presidency that would be unable to respond forcefully a year later as South Vietnam collapsed. Still, the military situation remained relatively stable through the rest of that year and into early 1975. There were intelligence reports that the North planned to step up military action in the central highlands in the spring, but the conven- tional wisdom was that Hanoi would wait another year so as to influence the 1976 U.S. presidential election. Indeed, the view Seldomhas the Foreign Service fielded somany highly competent individuals in such a dangerous but critically important environment. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger’s office on the night of the Mayaguez rescue, May 14, 1975. Kenneth Quinn is on the left, Kissinger in the center and Deputy National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft at right. Courtesy of Kenneth Quinn