Ho Chi Minh: Rattled Genius or Dictatorial Lunatic?

Ho Chi Minh
He married nationalism to communism and perfected the deadly art of guerrilla warfare
BY STANLEY KARNOW
n emaciated, goateed figure in a threadbare bush jacket and frayed rubber sandals, Ho Chi Minh cultivated the image of a humble, benign "Uncle Ho." But he was a seasoned revolutionary and passionate nationalist obsessed by a single goal: independence for his country. Sharing his fervor, his tattered guerrillas vaulted daunting obstacles to crush France's desperate attempt to retrieve its empire in Indochina; later, built into a largely conventional army, they frustrated th…