“I Haven’t Lost Anything…” (1965)
by Hugh Smith Haynie (1927-1999)
19 x 14 in, ink and tone on paper
Coppola Collection
Hired in 1958 as an editorial cartoonist for the Louisville Courier-Journal, he remained with that paper until his retirement in 1996 and then as an emeritus advisor.
Haynie’s cartoons were keepsakes, even among the politicians who were criticized in them. His work is included in the collections of the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter presidential libraries.
This is a nice example of Haynie’s work.
Mao decided to commit a large portion of China’s military and other material sources to backing the Vietnamese Communists in 1964 and 1965.
The strife between these two countries was escalating, however. A first sign of disharmony appeared over differences regarding the role that the Chinese troops were to play in Vietnam and the proper relationship between Chinese troops and local Vietnamese.
When Chinese troops entered Vietnam, they were exhorted to “use every opportunity to serve the Vietnamese people.” The underlying assumption was that China’s support to Vietnam was not only a military task, but also a political mission. It was therefore important for Chinese soldiers to play a model role while in Vietnam, thus promoting the image of China as a great example of proletarian-internationalism.
Efforts to put such principles into practice, however, were often thwarted by Vietnamese authorities. Several such incidents were reported to Mao in late August 1965, only two months after the first Chinese units had entered Vietnam.
Beijing, offended by Hanoi’s decision to begin negotiations with the United States in Paris, recalled all its troops from Vietnam.