Le Duc Tho: The Vietnamese Diplomat Who Rejected the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973

US President Donald Trump and his administration mounted an extensive campaign to secure the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, albeit unsuccessfully. Trump repeatedly asserted that his role in facilitating multiple ceasefires between nations at war warranted this recognition.

However, 50 years ago, a remarkable precedent was set when Le Duc Tho, a Vietnamese diplomat, made the extraordinary decision to decline the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. He had been named joint recipient with Henry Kissinger, then US Secretary of State, for "jointly having negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam in 1973".

Norwegian academic John Sanness, a Nobel committee member, nominated Tho merely two days after the Paris accords were signed. Nonetheless, Tho refused the honor, stating that his "opposite number had violated the truce".

This rejection stemmed from Tho's firm belief that genuine peace remained elusive in South Vietnam, despite the Paris Agreement. According to a 1973 New York Times report, Hanoi's chief negotiator declared, "peace has not yet really been established in South Vietnam. In these circumstances, it is impossible for me to accept" the prize.

He further clarified, "I will be able to consider acceptance only when the Paris accord is respected, the arms are silenced, and real peace is established in South Vietnam."

In his correspondence with the Nobel Committee, Tho expressed profound disappointment regarding the United States' persistent violations of the agreement and the Saigon administration's continued warfare.

"During the last 18 years, the United States undertook a war of aggression against Vietnam. The Vietnamese people have waged a tenacious and heroic struggle against the United States' aggression for independence and freedom. All of progressive humanity approves and supports this just cause," wrote Tho in his letter.

Tho emphasized that while the Paris Agreement represented a significant victory for the Vietnamese people, it fell short of establishing true peace.

"However, since the signing of the Paris agreement, the United States and the Saigon administration continue in grave violation of 4 number of key clauses of this agreement. The Saigon administration, aided and encouraged by the United States, continues its acts of war. Peace has not yet really been established in South Vietnam.

"In these circumstances, it is impossible for me to accept the 1973 Nobel Prize for Peace which the committee has bestowed on me. Once the Paris accord on Vietnam is respected, the arms are silenced and a real peace is established in South Vietnam, I will be able to consider accepting this prize. With my thanks to the Nobel Prize Committee please Accept, madame, sincere respects," his letter continued.

Tho additionally remarked, "Kissinger's realpolitik was ill-suited to an open and democratic society, where it is difficult to invoke distant ends to justify unpalatable means."

A decade later, when interviewed, Tho maintained that the Nobel Committee had committed a significant error. "This is a prize for peace. The thing here is, who is the one that has created peace? The ones who fought against the US and established peace for the country are us, not the US," he stated.

When asked whether he would now accept the prize, he responded, "Yes, but only if the prize is awarded to me only."