I remember my history teacher telling us a story about how Ho Chi Minh was ignored at the US Embassy when he wanted support in making Vietnam independent. He then walked across the street to the Soviet Embassy where they flew him to the Soviet Union and equipped him to start a revolution against the French in Vietnam. Is any of this remotely true?
No, this is a metaphorical (and not very accurate) description of a series of events.
Since the US entrance in WW2 in 1941, Hồ Chí Minh (HCM) had been interested in getting US support in his fight against the Japanese and their French ally, the Vichyite government of Admiral Decoux. Roosevelt was known for his dislike of (French) colonialism, and he had made remarks unfavourable to the continuation of French presence in Indochina that HCM was certainly aware of. In Spring 1944, Viet Minh representatives met Free French officials in China to discuss postwar colonial policies. They were rebuked by the French and turned to the US instead, who responded politely and voiced sympathy but told the Vietnamese that they were French citizens and that the US was committed to help France. However, after his release from a Chinese prison in September 1943, HCM had cultivated the friendship of US officers, and the name of "Mr Ho" was starting to circulate, though little was known about him.
Then, in November 1944, US aviator Lieutenant Rudolph Shaw crash-landed his P-51 near the Sino-Vietnamese border. He avoided French patrols and was taken to HCM, who escorted him to China, using this opportunity to increase his status. In March 1945, HCM, in Kunming, managed to meet General Claire Lee Chenault (of the Flying Tigers fame), of the 14th Air Force. The Americans were in dire need of intelligence sources within Indochina: OSS Captain Archimedes Patti was told about this mysterious Mr Ho, and eventually met him. HCM promised Patti intelligence and assistance if his movement could be provided with weapons. Communication and trust were now established between HCM and the Americans. HCM would later tell Patti that he was willing to grant special concessions to US commercial interests in Vietnam.
In July 1945, the OSS "Deer Team" led by Major Allison Thomas was parachuted in Tan Trao, 80 km from Hanoi, where HCM, Võ Nguyên Giáp and their guerillas were now lodging. HCM convinced the Americans that he was not a "Communist Bogy" and that he stood (in Allison's words) "for freedom and reforms from French harshness". The guerrillas got weapons and training from the Deer Team (HCM was really good at wooing people). After the Japanese surrender, Viet Minh forces took over Hanoi and other cities in Vietnam. On 2 September, HCM read the Declaration of Independence to a crowd in Hanoi, quoting the American one. Americans were in attendance and two P-38 Lightning did a flyby over the crowd.
However, HCM's brief love affair with the US was coming to an end. Truman had replaced Roosevelt, and he was not opposed to the return of the French in Indochina. American attitudes still remained ambiguous. On the ground, officers like Patti were strong supporters of HCM. In Washington, some favoured the French while others wanted a more hands-off approach. Patti could only relay to HCM the official American position: the US neither questioned French sovereignty nor supported French imperalism. HCM's letters to Truman were left unanswered. In September 1946, HCM met with US diplomats in Paris (this is the "Ho Chi Minh was ignored at the US Embassy" part), again insisting that he was not a Communist, and hinting at the possibility of future military cooperation (the use of Cam Ranh Bay as a naval base). He reiterated his offer in December, this time in Hanoi, with no more success. HCM's "moderate" face - that of the nationalist-but-not-Communist patriot - was no longer convincing for the Americans.
In December 1946, Viet Minh forces attacked Hanoi, starting the Indochina war. Americans were still debating about how much of a Communist HCM really was, but the idea of helping him was no longer on the table. In January 1950, HCM turned to the newly Communist China for help, and met Mao in Beijing, where he was warmly received and obtained the official recognition of Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) by China. Chinese military aid started in the following months. In February, HCM went to Moscow. Stalin was distrusting and even hostile, but, like China, the USSR recognized the DRV as the sole legal governement of Vietnam. At about the same time, Washington agreed to provide military assistance to France, and, in March 1950, Truman approved a grant of $15 million. From then, the US would only increase its support and ended up footing the bill for the Indochina War. Soviet aid would not start until the mid-1950s and became only significant after the US military escalation of the mid-1960s.
So: Ho Chi Minh courted the Americans repeatedly between 1944 and 1946, with some success at first, but the US turned him down eventually as they wanted to stem the incoming "red tide" and were wary to support a Communist regime. HCM then found help in Communist China during the Indochina War, and during the Vietnam War, in the USSR. In any case, he did not "walk across the street": the possibility of American support only lasted a few months and was mostly due to 1) HCM's uncanny ability to charm Western officers and politicians, and 2) the general uncertainty of Americans (and the French, Brits, Chinese, and even Vietnamese etc.) about the chaotic situation in Vietnam in late 1945.
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