In the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho was the only person who refused to accept the honor.
Trump’s dream was shattered. He did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The award for this award to Maria of Venezuela was announced on Friday in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Interestingly, Maria is from Venezuela whom Trump considers his worst enemy. Maria Corina is currently leading the democratic movement against the Venezuelan government. Trump is not the only one who was dreaming of getting the Peace Prize, even before this many famous people have been nominated for this award, but there was one person who refused to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
He was Vietnamese politician, revolutionary and diplomat Le Duc Tho. In 1973, it was announced that he would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Le Duc is the only person in the history of Nobel Prizes who refused to accept the award.
Why did you refuse to accept the Nobel Peace Prize?
In 1973, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award to Vietnamese politician Le Duc Tho and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for their efforts to end the Vietnam War. Le Duc Tho has refused to accept this award and has also given reasons for doing so.
Le Duc said in a telegram sent to the Nobel Committee that he would consider accepting the prize only if the Paris Peace Agreement was fully respected and peace was restored in South Vietnam, because the terms of the agreement had been violated. He stressed that the ongoing conflict and continuing acts of war between the United States and South Vietnam make it impossible to accept the award for a peace that has not yet been achieved.
Take it. Photo: Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet via Getty Images
Le Duc Tho had long experience in fighting against superpowers. He negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam between 1969 and 1973 with Henry Kissinger. He became a communist in his youth and was imprisoned for many years by the French colonial authorities. During Japan’s occupation of Vietnam in World War II, he got a position in the leadership of the Communist Party. After Japan’s defeat in 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent, but the French returned and Le Duc Tho became the leader of opposition to France.
After the defeat of France, Vietnam was divided. The United States supported a government in South Vietnam that the communists in the North considered an American puppet government. When the US decided to negotiate after 1968, Le Duc Tho was appointed North Vietnam’s chief negotiator, competing against Henry Kissinger.
When Hanoi was bombed on Kissinger’s orders at Christmas time, Le Duc Tho agreed to an armistice. But when he received the Peace Prize with Kissinger in the winter of 1973, he refused to accept it on the grounds that his rival had violated the armistice.
Also read: Why did these 4 American Presidents receive the Nobel Peace Prize?