ment. However, Diem denounced the agreement, and was supported by the United States' refusal to sign the agreement. As then Senator John Kennedy states in his speech before the "American Friends of Vietnam," on America's stakes in Vietnam the refusal to hold the election is due to the fact that the odds were heavily in favor of Minh and the Communist party. And although his logic is that we can't have democracy by holding an election if the election will result in anti-Democracy and rigged elections for years to come, his statement is one of the most ridiculously un-democratic statements ever made by anyone in the United States government.
             Kennedy, of course, had valid reasons not to want to lose Vietnam to Communism, he saw it as the "cornerstone of the Free World in Southeast Asia" (Podhoretz, pg. 19). Secondly, Kennedy saw Vietnam as a testing ground for Democracy is Asia, an alternative to Communist and Totalitarian dictatorship. Kennedy knew that if South Vietnam's non-Communist government had worked, it would have created an optimistic view of Democracy in many Asians' minds, as opposed to the pessimistic view held by most Asians toward Democracy at the time. That is why he could not allow Ho Chi Minh to unify Vietnam under Communist control, he needed it as an example of Democracy to the rest of Asia. Still, Kennedy went on and voiced more reasons for the United States involvement in Vietnam. Kennedy also saw Vietnam as a test, a test to show the rest of the world that America could still be looked on for leadership, commitment, and help. Kennedy stated that he saw the United States and its people as the parents of South Vietnam. We created it, we nurtured it, we shaped its existence, and for this Kennedy knew that the failure of South Vietnam for any reason would reflect poorly on the United States and our reputation would forever be tarnished. His final reason for our involvement was related to the lessons learned following...