Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia : Managing his Public Image

Abstract

The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. American involvement in Vietnam began as advisory support for the French, who were trying in vain to reassert colonial control over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos after the conclusion of World War II. This support gradually but steadily increased, ultimately amounting to the presence of more than 500,000 U.S. combat troops at the height of the war. In March of 1970, longtime Cambodian head of state and self-proclaimed neutralist, Norodom Sihanouk, was removed in a coup by two men friendly to American interests. Shortly after his removal, American and South Vietnamese troops crossed into Cambodia, and began what would become known as the Cambodian incursion. At the intersection of Cambodia, the Vietnam War, and Norodom Sihanouk, there are two prominent American journalists who covered the events in Southeast Asia, Sam Jaffe and William Attwood. Jaffe was the first American journalist to interview Sihanouk, and he and Attwood interviewed Sihanouk in 1968 and maintained an ongoing professional correspondence with him. This paper examines, within the context of the Vietnam War, the relationship that existed between Sihanouk and the two American journalists, both during his time as Cambodian head of state and afterwards.