Following the end of World War II in Asia, France attempted to regain control of Vietnam, as part of French Indochina, which it had lost to Japan in 1941.

The southern part was named the State of Vietnam under the leadership of former Emperor Bảo Đại.

In 1950, the United States recognized the Bảo Đại government, established diplomatic relations, and sent its first ambassador to Saigon in South Vietnam, officially known as the Republic of Vietnam following the rise of President Ngô Đình Diệm in 1955.

The US was opposed to the communist government of the North, led by Chairman Hồ Chí Minh, and did not recognize the northern regime.

Since the normalization of United States–Vietnam relations in 1995, the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City stands adjacent to the site of the former embassy which was demolished in 1998.