This is the first part of the three-part series of contemporary Vietnamese history related to the Vietnam War and the relationship between the United States and Vietnam from 1787 to 1975. This first book starting from July, 1787 when Thomas Jefferson, then American Ambassador to France, expressed an interest in acquiring rice seed from Vietnam (or Cochin-China, as it was commonly referred to at the time). It constitutes the first official American awareness of that distant foreign country. The book also mentioned many unsuccessful attempts of the US Naval officials, who tried to make contacts with the Vietnamese rulers. Also the involving of the OSS with Ho Chi Minh during the second World War, and the defeat of France at Dien Bien Phu. The Geneva Conference divided Vietnam into two parts in 1954. Finally, the direct involvement of the US to support the South Vietnamese government until 1955, is the conclusion of the first part of the series.