What Gerald Ford and Vietnam may reveal about Biden and Afghanistan
The striking images of the United States' exit from Afghanistan amid the Taliban's takeover of Kabul has a lot of people looking back on similar footage from Saigon in 1975, when the South Vietnamese capital fell to North Vietnamese forces, and U.S. personnel exited Vietnam.
It's a comparison the Biden administration had hoped to avoid, and over the last few days the White House has been trying to put a dent in it. But The New York Times' Nate Cohn pointed out that former President Gerald Ford — who was in the White House at the time of the evacuation and, like President Biden, overseeing the end to a decades-long war in the early stages of his presidency — didn't experience all that much heat for the operation in the long run. In fact, his approval rating actually ticked up a bit in the following months, and a Gallup poll from August 1975 suggested Americans considered getting U.S. troops out of Vietnam was his biggest accomplishment. G. Elliot Morris also noted that polling at the time indicated that Americans didn't blame Ford much, if at all, for the what unfolded in Vietnam, especially compared to his predecessors, former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Afghanistan in 2021 and South Vietnam in 1975 are far from one-for-one comparisons, and Cohn clarified that he has no idea how whether what's happening in Kabul will affect Biden's approval rating or his re-election chances. Rather, he's raising the notion that the fall of Saigon is not "necessarily a devastating political precedent for Biden," as the discourse surrounding it suggests.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Climate change is threatening Florida's Key deer
The Explainer Questions remain as to how much effort should be put into saving the animals
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
TV to watch in November, from 'Dune: Prophecy' and 'A Man on the Inside'
The Week Recommends A new comedy from 'The Good Place' creator, a prequel to 'Dune' and the conclusion of one of America's most popular shows
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Daniel Lurie: San Francisco's moderate next mayor
In the Spotlight Lurie beat a fellow Democrat, incumbent Mayor London Breed, for the job
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Saudi crown prince slams Israeli 'genocide' in Gaza
Speed Read Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Israel’s actions
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump fills key slots, tapping Congress, MAGA loyalists
Speed Read The president-elect continues to fill his administration with new foreign policy, environment and immigration roles assigned
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Haiti council fires prime minister, boosting chaos
Speed Read Prime Minister Garry Conille was replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump tells next Senate GOP leader to skip confirmations
Speed Read The president-elect said the next Senate majority leader must allow him to make recess appointments
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Fed cuts rates, chair says he won't quit if Trump asks
Speed Read Jerome Powell was noncommittal on future rate cuts that were expected before Trump won the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'The problem with deliverism is that it presumes voters will notice'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Judge revives plea deal for 9/11 suspects
Speed Read A military judge has ruled to restore the plea deals struck by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-conspirators
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Harris concedes as world prepares for Trump's return
Speed Read Vice President Kamala Harris told supporters it was important to 'accept the results of this election'
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published