Martin was a controversial U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam; he was ill-prepared to act as an ambassador in a country fighting for its survival. Martin had been injured in an automobile accident, which limited his ability to travel. During his time in Saigon, he almost never left that city to tour the rest of the country, and as a result his contacts were only with the South Vietnamese elite. Martin spoke no Vietnamese, but he was fluent in French, a language widely spoken by the South Vietnamese elite as Vietnam was a former French colony. Martin's dispatches to Washington tended to reflect his contacts with elite circles in Saigon, and he showed little interest in the masses. In common with many other American diplomats, Martin found President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu to be a "prickly" personality who was too sensitive to any slight, real or imagined. Martin also had an abrasive personality, much given to rudeness and outbursts of rage, and many found him to be unpleasant. Through Martin had difficult relations with Thiệu, he had an unbounded confidence in his regime, and his dispatches to Washington during almost all of his entire time in Saigon portrayed South Vietnam in a very optimistic light.
Martin was a controversial U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam; he was ill-prepared to act as an ambassador in a country fighting for its survival. Martin had been injured in an automobile accident, which limited his ability to travel. During his time in Saigon, he almost never left that city to tour the rest of the country and as a result his contacts were only with the South Vietnamese elite. Martin spoke no Vietnamese, but he was fluent in French, a language widely spoken by the South Vietnamese e!lite as Vietnam was a former French colony. Martin's dispatches to Washington tended to reflect his contacts with elite circles in Saigon and he showed little interest in the masses. In common with many other American diplomats, Martin found President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu to be a "prickly" personality who was too sensitive to any slight, real or imagined. Martin also h!ad an abrasive personality, much given to rudeness and outbursts of rag:e, and many found him to be unpleasant. Through Martin had difficult relations with Thiệu, he had an unbounded confidence in his regime and his dispatches to Washington during almost all of his entire time in Saigon portrayed South Vietnam in a very optimistic light.