 The four officers were taken aback by Taylor 's searing words and felt they had been humiliated . A decade after the incident , Kỳ described Taylor as " the sort of man who addressed people rather than talked to them " , referencing the confrontation . Karnow said " For the sake of their own pride , they [ the Vietnamese officers ] resented being treated in ways that reminded them of their almost total dependence on an alien power . How could they preserve a sense of sovereignty when Taylor , striving to push them into ' getting things done ' , <unk> like a viceroy ? " However , Thi also took a <unk> pleasure in <unk> Taylor . He was seen by a CIA officer soon after , <unk> . When asked why he was happy , Thi said " Because this is one of the <unk> days of my life ... Today I told the American ambassador that he could not <unk> to us . " Nevertheless , Taylor 's conduct had rankled the officers , stirring their latent sense of nationalism and anti @-@ Americanism ; Khánh would exploit this to strengthen his fragile position in the junta . 
