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Ngô Đình Diệm
President of the Republic of Vietnam
In office 26 October 1955 – 2 November 1963
Preceded by	Position created Bảo Đại as Chief of the State of Vietnam
Succeeded by	Dương Văn Minh
Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam
In office 26 June 1954 – 26 October 1955
Preceded by	Prince Bửu Lộc
Succeeded by	none
Personal details
Born	(1901-01-03)3 January 1901 Quảng Bình, French Indochina
Died	2 November 1963(1963-11-02) (aged 62) Saigon, South Vietnam
Political party	Cần Lao
Spouse	None
Education	School of Public Administration and Law

Ngô Đình Diệm (listen; listen; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was the first president of Republic of Vietnam (1955–1963).

In October 1955, he announced victory after a fraudulent 1955 plebiscite and began building a right-wing regime in South Vietnam. In November 1963, after constant religious protests and non-violent resistances, Diệm was assassinated, along with his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, by Nguyễn Văn Nhung, the aide of ARVN General Dương Văn Minh during a coup d’état that deposed his government.

Diệm has been a controversial historical figure in historiography on Vietnam War scholarship. Some historians portrayed him as a tool of the US policymakers, some considered him as an avatar of Vietnamese tradition Nevertheless, some recent studies have portrayed Diệm from a more Vietnamese centered perspectives as a competent leader with his own vision on nation building and modernization.

Family and early life

Diệm was born in Quảng Bình province, in 1901, 110 km north of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty-era capital of Huế, in central Vietnam. His family originated in the Phú Cam district, a (formerly) Catholic district in Huế, (after the 1975 North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam, most homes and businesses in the district were confiscated by communist cadres, and Phú Cam's Catholic residents forcibly relocated, many to New Economic Zones in the jungle interior of Thừa Thiên–Huế Province). His family converted to Roman Catholicism in the 17th century, so Diệm was given a saint's name at birth, Gioan Baotixita ( a Vietnamized form of Jean Baptiste), following the custom of the Catholic Church. The Ngô-Đình family, along with other Vietnamese Catholics, suffered from anti-Catholic persecutions from Emperors Minh Mạng and Tự Đức. In 1880, while Diệm's father, Ngô Đình Khả (1850-1925), was studying in Malaya for government service for the Nguyễn dynasty, an anti-Catholic riot led by Buddhist monks almost wiped out the entire Ngô-Đình family. Over 100 Ngôs, including Khả's parents, brothers and sisters, were buried alive.

Ngô Đình Khả, who was educated in Catholic school in Malaya, where he learned English and European style curriculum, was a devout Catholic and scrapped plans to become a Roman Catholic priest in the late 1870s. He also worked for French military commander as an interpreter and took part in campaigns against anti-colonial rebels in the mountains of Tonkin during 1880. Then, he rose to become a high-ranking Mandarin, the first headmaster of the National Academy in Huế which was found in 1896 and a counselor to Emperor Thành Thái during French colonisation. He also rose to become the minister of the rites and chamberlain, and keeper of the eunuchs. According to Miller, despite his collaboration with the French colonizers, Khả was “motivated less Francophilia than by certain reformist ambitions” , such as  Phan Châu Trinh, who believed that independence from France could only come from the changes in Vietnamese politics, society and culture. In 1907, after the ouster of Thành Thái king, Khả resigned and withdrew from royal court and became a farmer in countryside.

Khả had nine children - six sons and three daughters by his second wife, Phạm Thị Thân, whom he married after his first wife passed away. They were: Ngô Đình Khôi, Ngô Đình Thị Giao, Ngô Đình Thục, Ngô Đình Diệm, Ngô Đình Thị Hiệp, Ngô Đình Thị Hoàng, Ngô Đình Nhu, Ngô Đình Cẩn, Ngô Đình Luyện. As a devout Roman Catholic, Khả took his entire family to Mass every morning. Diệm rose every morning before dawn to pray. The Ngô-Đình family was firmly Confucianist and Catholic. Mastering in both Latin and classical Chinese, Khả made sure that his children were well educated in Christian scriptures and Confucian classics . During his childhood, Diệm laboured in the family's rice fields while studying at a French Catholic primary school (Pellerin School) in Huế, and later entered a private school started by his father, where he studied French, Latin and classical Chinese. At age fifteen he followed his elder brother, Ngô Đình Thục, who would later become Vietnam's highest ranking Catholic bishop, into a monastery. After a few months he left. Diệm even swore himself to celibacy when he was a teenager to prove his devotion to his faith before he decided not to pursue clerical career due to finding monastic life too rigorous . According to Moyar, Diệm‘s personality was too independent to discipline himself in the church. He also inherited his father nationalism and contempt for the French colonialists.

At the end of his secondary schooling in Lycée Quốc học, his very high examination results at the French lycée in Huế saw him offered a scholarship to Paris, but he declined and enrolled to study at the prestigious School of Public Administration and Law in Hanoi, a French school that educated Vietnamese bureaucrats in 1918 It was there that he had the only romantic relationship of his life, when he fell in love with one of his teacher's daughters. After she persisted with her vocation, entering a convent, he remained celibate for the rest of his life. Diệm ‘s family background and education, especially Catholicism and Confucianism had influences on his life and his career: his thinking on politics, society, history. According to Miller, Diệm “displayed Christian piety in everything from his devotional practices to his habit of inserting references to the Bible into his speeches. He also made Confucius ‘s birthday a state holiday and “liked to show off his knowledge of classical Chinese texts”. Nevertheless, being a Catholic and a Confucian does not mean Diệm was trapped by premodern visions.

Early career

After graduating at the top of his class in 1921, Ngô Đình Diệm followed in the footsteps of his eldest brother, Ngô Đình Khôi, joining the civil service in Thừa Thiên as a junior official. Starting from the lowest rank of mandarin, Ngô Đình Diệm steadily rose over the next decade. He first served at the royal library in Huế, and within one year was the district chief in both Thừa Thiên and nearby Quảng Trị province, presiding over seventy villages. Ngô Đình Diệm was promoted to be a provincial chief (Tuần phủ) in Ninh Thuận at the age of 28 , overseeing 300 villages.

During his career as a mandarin, Diệm was reputable for his workaholism and incorruptibility, a Catholic leader and nationalist.  Besides, Catholic nationalism in Vietnam in Vietnam during 1920s and 1930s facilitated Diệm ‘s ascent in his bureaucratic career. Ngô Đình Diệm's rise was also helped by Khôi's marriage to the daughter of Nguyễn Hữu Bài (1863-1935), the Catholic head of the Council of Ministers at the Huế court and also supported the indigenization of the Vietnamese Church and more administrative powers to the monarchy. Nguyễn Hữu Bài was highly regarded among the French, and Ngô Đình Diệm's religious and family ties impressed him. The French were impressed by his work ethic but were irritated by his frequent calls to grant more autonomy to Vietnam. Ngô Đình Diệm replied that he contemplated resigning but encouragement from the populace convinced him to persist. He first encountered communists distributing propaganda while riding horseback through the region near Quảng Trị. Revolted by calls for violent socialist revolution contained in the propaganda leaflets, Ngô Đình Diệm involved himself in anti-communist activities for the first time, printing his own pamphlets.

In 1929, he helped to round up communist agitators in his administrative area. He was rewarded with the promotion to the governorship of Bình Thuận Province, and in 1930 and 1931 suppressed the first peasant revolts organized by the communists, in collaboration with French forces.  In 1933, with the return of Bảo Đại to ascend the throne, Ngô Đình Diệm accepted Bảo Đại ‘s invitation to be his interior minister following lobbying by Nguyễn Hữu Bài. Soon after his appointment, Diệm headed a commission to advise for potential administration reforms. After calling for the French to introduce a Vietnamese legislature and many other political reforms, he resigned after three months in office when this and other proposals were rejected. Diệm  denounced Emperor Bảo Đại as "nothing but an instrument in the hands of the French", and renounced his decorations and titles from Bảo Đại. The French then threatened him with arrest and exile.

For the next decade, Ngô Đình Diệm lived as a private citizen with his family in Huế, although he was kept under surveillance. He spent his time on reading, meditating, attending church, gardening, hunting, amateur photography. Besides, Ngô Đình Diệm also extensively conducted his nationalist activities during those 21 years, with meetings and correspondence with various leading Vietnamese revolutionaries, such as his friend, Phan Bội Châu, a Vietnamese anticolonial activist, who Diệm respected for his knowledge of Confucianism and argued that Confucianism ‘s teachings could be applied to a modern Vietnam. With the start of the Second World War in the Pacific, seeing an opportunity for Vietnam to challenge French colonization from the presence of Japan, he attempted to persuade the Japanese forces to declare independence for Vietnam in 1942 but was ignored.  Diệm also tried to establish relationships with Japanese diplomats, army officers, and intelligent operatives who supported Vietnam‘s independence. In 1943, Diệm ‘s Japanese friends helped him to contact Prince Cuong De, an anticolonial activist, who was exiled in Japan. After contacting Cường Để, Diệm formed a secret political party, the Association for the Restoration of Great Vietnam (Việt Nam Đại Việt Phục Hưng Hội) which was dominated by his Catholic allies in Hue. When its existence was discovered in the summer of 1944, the French declared Ngô Đình Diệm to be a subversive and ordered his arrest. He flew to Saigon under Japanese military protection, staying there until the end of WWII.

In 1945, after the coup against French colonial rule, the Japanese offered Ngô Đình Diệm the post of prime ministers in the Empire of Vietnam under Bảo Đại which they organized upon leaving the country. He declined initially, but regretted his decision and attempted to reverse the offer. Nevertheless, Bảo Đại had already given the post to  Trần Trọng Kim . In September 1945, after the Japanese withdrawal, Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the Northern half of Vietnam, his Việt Minh began fighting the French. Ngô Đình Diệm attempted to travel to Huế to dissuade Bảo Đại from joining Hồ, but was arrested by the Việt Minh along the way and exiled to a highland village near the border. He might have died of malaria, dysentery and influenza had the local tribesmen not nursed him back to health. Six months later, he was taken to meet Hồ in Hanoi, and was asked to be minister of interior but refused to join the Việt Minh, assailing Hồ for the murder of his brother Ngô Đình Khôi by Việt Minh cadres.

During the Indochina War, Diệm and other non-communist nationalists had to face with the dilemma: they did not want to restore colonial and did not want to support the Việt Minh. Diệm proclaimed his neutrality and attempted to establish a Third Force movement which was both anti-colonialist and anti-communist

In 1947, he became the founder and chief of the National Union Bloc (Khối Quốc Gia Liên Hiệp) and then folded it into the group Vietnam National Rally (Việt Nam Quốc Gia Liên Hiệp) which gathered non-communist Vietnamese nationalists. He also established the relationships with some leading Vietnamese anti-communists like Nguyễn Tôn Hoàn (1917-2001), a fellow Catholic and political activist. His other allies and advisors were dominated by the Catholics, especially his family ‘s members and their friends.

Besides, Diệm also secretly maintained contact with Democratic Republic of Vietnam ‘s high ranking leaders to convince them leave Hồ Chí Minh ‘s government and join him. At the same time, he lobbied French colonial officials for a “true independence” for Vietnam, Nevertheless, Diệm was disappointed when in June 1948, Bảo Đại signed an agreement to grant Vietnam as an “associated state” within the French Union, which allowed France to maintain its diplomatic, economic and military policies in Vietnam.

In the meantime, the French had started the State of Vietnam and Ngô Đình Diệm refused Bảo Đại's offer to become the Prime Minister. In 16 June 1949, he then published a new manifesto in newspapers proclaiming a third force different from Vietminh and Bảo Đại, but raised little interest and otherwise, his statement was evident to both the French and Việt Minh that Diệm was a dangerous rival. In 1950, the Việt Minh lost patience and sentenced him to death in absentia, and the French refused to protect him. Hồ Chí Minh ‘s cadres tried to assassinate him while he was traveling to visit his elder brother Thục, bishop of the Vĩnh Long diocese in the Mekong Delta. Recognizing of his political fortune, Ngô Đình Diệm decided to leave Vietnam in 1950.

According to Miller, during his early career, there were at least three trends of ideologies which influenced Diệm ‘s social and political visions in 1920s and 1930s. They were Catholic nationalism which Diệm inherited from his family‘s tradition, especially from Cardinal Ngô Đình Thục, his brother and Nguyễn Hữu Bài, who advised him to “return the seal” in 1933 to oppose French policies. The second one was Diệm ‘s understanding of Confucianism, especially through his friendship with Phan Bội Châu who argued that Confucianism ‘s teachings could be applied to a modern Vietnam. More importantly, during those years, instructed by Ngô Đình Nhu, Diệm began to examine Personalism which originates from French Catholicism‘s philosophy and applied this doctrine as the main ideology of his regime.

Exile

Diệm applied for permission to travel to Rome for the Holy Year celebrations at the Vatican. After gaining French permission, he left in August 1950 with his older brother, Bishop Ngô Đình Thục. Before going to Europe, Diệm went to Japan, where he met with Prince Cường Để, his former ally,  and discussed about Cường Để ‘s efforts to return to Vietnam and his capacity to play some roles in his homeland. Diệm ‘s friend also managed to organize a meeting between him and Wesley Fishel, an American political science professor at University of California who was working for CIA in Japan. Fishel was a proponent of the anti-colonial, anti-communist third force doctrine in Asia and was impressed with Diệm and helped him organize connections in the United States. In 1951, Diệm flew to the United States to seek the support of government officials. Nevertheless, Diệm was not successful in winning the US support for Vietnamese anti-communists. They continued to fly to Europe.

In Rome, Diệm obtained an audience with Pope Pius XII at the Vatican before further lobbying across Europe. He also met with French and Vietnamese officials in Paris and sent a message indicating that he was willing to be the Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam to Bảo Đại. But Bảo Đại then refused to meet him. Diệm returned to the United States to continue building support among Americans. Nevertheless, to Americans, the fact that Diệm was an anti-communist could not distinguish him from Bảo Đại and other State of Vietnam leaders. And some American officials were worried about his Catholic devoutness which could hinder/restrain his ability in mobilizing support in a non-Catholic predominant country. Diệm recognized that hesitation and in his lobbying course, besides anti-communism and religious factors, Diệm also focused on another ground: ideas of development since the US were enthusiastic in applying their technology and knowledge to modernize postcolonial countries. With the help of Fishel, Diệm was appointed as a consultant to Michigan State University's Government Research Bureau, where Fishel worked. MSU was administering government-sponsored assistance programs for cold war allies, and Diệm helped Fishel to lay the foundation for a program later implemented in South Vietnam, the Michigan State University Vietnam Advisory Group.

The Americans’ assessments of Diệm were varied. Some were unimpressed with him, some admired him. Diệm got favor with some high standing officials, such as: Supreme Court Justice William Douglas, Roman Catholic cardinal: Francis Cardinal Spellman, Representative Mike Mansfield of Montana, and Representative John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts along with numerous journalists, academics, and the legendary spy chief of CIA William J. Donovan. Although he did not succeed in wining an official support from the US, his personal interactions with American political leaders promised his prospect in gaining more support in the future. Mansfield remembered after the luncheon with Diệm held in May 8 1953, he felt that “if anyone could hold South Vietnam, it was somebody like Ngô Đình Diệm”.

During Diệm ‘s exile period, his brothers Ngô Đình Nhu, Ngô Đình Cẩn and Ngô Đình Luyện played important roles in helping him to build international and internal networks and supports in different ways for the return of Diệm to Vietnam.

Being Prime Minister and Consolidation of power

Until 1953, the State of Vietnam was nominally independent from Paris. Since dissatisfaction with France and Bảo Đại rose among non-communist nationalists, and support from non-communist nationalists and Diệm ‘s allies for him increased for his “true independence” point of view from France, Diệm sensed that it was time for him to come to power in Vietnam.

In early 1954, Bảo Đại offered Diệm the Prime Minister position of the new government in Vietnam. In May 1954, the French surrendered at Điện Biên Phủ and the Geneva Conference began on July 1954. On 16 June 1954, Diệm met with Bảo Đại in France and agreed to be the Prime Minister if Bảo Đại would give him military and civilian control. On 25 June 1954, Diệm arrived at Tân Sơn Nhứt airport in Saigon which marked his return after the exile. On 7 July 1954, Diệm established his new government with the cabinet including 18 people. On 21 July 1954, the Geneva accords resulted in Vietnam being partitioned temporarily at the 17th parallel, pending elections in 1956 to reunify the country. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam controlled the north, while the French backed State of Vietnam controlled the south with Diệm as the Prime Minister. Diệm criticized the French for abandoning North Vietnam to the Communists at Geneva, claimed that the terms did not represent Vietnamese people‘s will and refused French suggestion to include more pro-French officials in the government. In December 31, 1954, Diệm established the National Bank of Vietnam and replaced currently Indochinese banknote by new Vietnamese banknotes.

In the first period of his premiership, Diệm did not have much power in the government, lacked military and police forces and the civil system ‘s key positions were still held by French officials. He could not also control the Bank of Indochina. Besides, Diệm had to face with massive obstacles: the refugee issues, the French colonists wanted to remove Diệm to protect France ‘s interest in South Vietnam, general Nguyễn Văn Hinh, a Francophile, the leader of National Army was ready to oust Diệm, the leaders of Hòa Hảo and Cao Đài sect armies wanted positions in Diệm ‘s cabinet and complete administrative control over their large-following areas, and the major threat of Bình Xuyên – an organized crime syndicate, controlled National Police led by Lê Văn Viễn, whose power was focused in Saigon In summer 1954, the three organizations controlled approximately one-third of the territory and population in South Vietnam. In that situation, besides his own political skills, Diệm had to trust in his relatives and the backing of his American supporters to overcome the obstacles and neutralize his opponents.

The accords allowed for freedom of movement between the two zones until October 1954; this was to put a large strain on the south. Diệm had only expected 10,000 refugees, but by August, there were over 200,000 waiting in Hanoi and Hải Phòng to be evacuated; the migration helped to strengthen Diệm's political base of support. To deal with the refugee matter, Diem’s government arranged them to live into fertile and under-populated provinces in the western Mekong Delta. Diệm regime also provided them with food and shelter, farm tools and housing material. The government also dug irrigation canals, built dikes, and dredged swamp-lands to help stabilize their lives.

In August 1954, Diệm also had to face the “Hinh crisis” when Nguyễn Văn Hinh launched a series of public attacks on Diệm, proclaiming that South Vietnam needed a “strong and popular” leader. Hinh also bragged that he was preparing a coup. However, in the end of 1954, Diệm successfully forced Hinh to resign from his post. Hinh had to flee to Paris and hand over his command of national army to general Nguyễn Văn Vỹ. But then, the National Army officers came out in favor of Diệm ‘s leadership over General Vỹ, which forced him to flee to Paris.  Despite its failure, the French continued to encourage Diệm 's enemies in an attempt to destabilize him.

In early 1955, although American advisors incited Diệm to negotiate with the leaders of the political-religious forces who threatened to overthrow his position and to forge an anti-communist bloc, he was determined to attack his enemies to consolidate his power. In April 1955, Diệm ‘s army forces took most of Bình Xuyên ‘s posts in Saigon after a victory in the Battle of Saigon. Within a few months, Diệm ‘s troops wiped out the Bình Xuyên ‘s remnants, left only a few small bands of them which then joined forces with the communists. The failure of Bình Xuyên marked the end of French efforts to remove Diệm. After the defeat of Bình Xuyên, the authority and prestige of Diệm ‘s government increased. Most of Cao Đài leaders chose to rally to Diệm ‘s government. Diệm then further dismantled the private armies of the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo religious sects. In the end of 1955, Diệm almost took control over South Vietnam, and his government was stronger than it had ever before. In April 1956, along with the capture of Ba Cụt, the leader of the last Hòa Hảo rebel, Diệm almost subdued all of his non-communist enemies, and could focus on his Vietnamese communist opponents. According to Miller,  Diệm ‘s capacity in subduing his enemies and consolidating his power strengthened  the support to his government of the US - who had planned to withdraw its backing from Diệm during his early difficult years of leadership.

Presidency (1955-1963)

• Establishment of Republic of Vietnam
• Main article: 1955 State of Vietnam referendum

In South Vietnam, a referendu was scheduled for 23 October 1955 to determine the future direction of the south, in which the people would decide to choose Diệm or Bảo Đại as the leader of South Vietnam. During the election, Diệm ‘s brother Ngô Đình Nhu and the Cần Lao party supplied Diệm's electoral base in organizing and supervising the elections, especially the propaganda campaign for destroying Bảo Đại ‘s reputation. No campaign for Bảo Đại was allowed Diệm then declared to win the election with 98.2 percent of the vote. The result of the election was considered implausible since the total announced number of votes for a republic exceeded the number of registered voters by over 380,000—further evidence that the referendum was heavily rigged . For example, only 450,000 voters were registered in Saigon, but 605,025 were said to have voted for a republic .

On 26 October 1955, Diệm replaced Bảo Đại as the head of the State and proclaimed the formation of the Republic of Vietnam, naming himself President and rejected the election to reunify the country in 1956.  He claimed that the 1956 elections would be "meaningful only on the condition that they are absolutely free."

At the same time, the first Constitution of Republic of Vietnam was promulgated. According to the Constitution, Diệm almost had absolute power to control over South Vietnam. His governance style became increasingly dictatorial over time. The Personalism (Chủ nghĩa nhân vị) officially became the basic doctrine of Diệm ‘s regime since the Constitution ‘s preface declared that “Building Politics, Economy, Society, Culture for the people basing on respecting Personalism”. According to Miller, democracy, to Diệm, was rooted in his dual identity as Confucian and Catholic, and was associated with communitarianism and the doctrine of Personalism. He defined democracy as “a social ethos based on certain sense of moral duty”, not in the US sense of “political right” or political pluralism and in the context of an Asian country like Vietnam, Confucian values were relevant to deal with contemporary problems in politics, governance and social change. In this sense, Diệm was not a reactionary mandarin and lacked of interest in democracy like the way he has been portrayed by some scholars. His way of thinking about democracy became key factor of his approach to political and administrative reform. On March 4, 1956, the first RVN National Assembly was held in a more free and fair than the referendum in 1955.

However, Diệm ‘s regime of “democratic one man rule” faced the increasing difficulties. After coming under pressure from within the country and the United States, Diệm agreed to hold legislative elections in August 1959 for South Vietnam. But in reality, newspapers were not allowed to publish names of independent candidates or their policies, and political meetings exceeding five people were prohibited. Candidates who ran against government-supported opponents had to face harassment and intimidation. In the rural areas, candidates who ran were threatened using charges of conspiracy with the Việt Cộng, which carried the death penalty. Phan Quang Đán, the government's most prominent critic, was allowed to run. Despite the deployment of 8,000 ARVN plainclothes troops into his district to vote, Đán still won by a ratio of 6–1. The busing of soldiers occurred across the country, and when the new assembly convened, Đán was arrested.

*Domestic policies 

+ Socio-economic policies

During his presidency, Diệm imposed the programs to reform Saigon society in accordance with Catholic values. Brothels and opium dens were closed, divorce and abortion were made illegal, and adultery laws were strengthened. Besides, Diệm ‘s government also established many schools and universities, such as: the National Technical Center at Phú Thọ in 1957,  the University of Saigon (1956), the University of Hue (1957), The University of Dalat (1957)...

In the political program of Can Lao party and National Revolutionary Movement, Diệm and Nhu pointed out the key factors of the RVN economy: a developed and independent economy, support local capitalists, stabilized currency and reduce budget deficit; enhance building infrastructure to meet military needs and create a prosperous South Vietnam. In 1957, Diệm’s government suggested the 5 –year plan (1957-1961) which aimed at expanding cultivated area to 20% and improving agricultural production to 25%, restoring exploitative industry and developing infrastructure. On December 31, 1955, Diệm promulgated the Decree 48 on RVN independence on currency and banknotes.

Diệm s’ government also encouraged the development of handicraft, industry and commerce. In October 1957, Diệm established Center for technological development for investment, instruction, cooperation and support private technological activities to gradually diminish the role of foreign capitalists, especially French capitalists in industry and to enhance the role of indigenous capitalists in RVN economy. In 1961, Diệm suggested the second 5-year plan (1962-1966) to continue the first 5-year plan. During the first Republic of Vietnam, some indigenous industrial zones or factories were founded, such as: paper factory Cogido in An Hảo (1961), Textile factories Vinatexco and Vimytex, glassware factory Khánh Hội, Cement factories Hà Tiên and Thủ Đức, Hydroelectric power factory Đa Nhim (1961), Biên Hòa industrial zone (1963)… During 1956-1960, Diệm built a relatively stable RVN with a stable economy along with the development in infrastructure and people‘s standards of living due to export of home comforts. Nevertheless, Diệm also admitted the dependence of RVN ‘s economy on the US assistance: “Today, the country is not self-sufficient. We can say that foreign assistance is a kind of compensation for the services our people have provided to the free wolrd to protect SEA market, and to fight against manipulations of international communism”.

Madame Nhu, the wife of Diệm's younger brother Nhu, was South Vietnam's de facto First Lady, and a Catholic convert herself. She led the way in Diệm's programs to reform Saigon society in accordance with Catholic values. Brothels and opium dens were closed, divorce and abortion made illegal, and adultery laws strengthened. Diệm won a street war with the private army of the Bình Xuyên organised crime syndicate of the Cholon brothels and gambling houses who had enjoyed special favors under the French and Bảo Đại. He further dismantled the private armies of the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo religious sects, which controlled parts of the Mekong Delta. Diệm was passionately anti-Communist. According to Gabriel Kolko about 12,000 suspected opponents of Diệm were killed between 1955 and 1957 and by the end of 1958 an estimated 40,000 political prisoners had been jailed. However, Guenter Lewy argues that such figures were exaggerated and that there were never more than 35,000 prisoners of all kinds in the whole country. Diệm's repression extended beyond communists to anti-communist dissidents and anti-corruption whistleblowers. According to Anthony Joes, "Diem was as far as can be imagined from the stereotype of the blood-thirsty tyrant: In all his years in power, most of which were dominated by insurrection and invasion, the number of nonjudicial executions amounted to only 33, including some Viet Cong shot during a prison-camp riot."

As opposition to Diệm's rule in South Vietnam grew, a low-level insurgency began to take shape there in 1957. Finally, in January 1959, under pressure from southern Viet Cong cadres who were being successfully targeted by Diệm's secret police, Hanoi's Central Committee issued a secret resolution authorizing the use of armed insurgency in the South with supplies and troops from the North. On 20 December 1960, under instructions from Hanoi, southern communists established the Viet Cong (NLF) in order to overthrow the government of the south. The NLF was made up of two distinct groups: South Vietnamese intellectuals who opposed the government and were nationalists; and communists who had remained in the south after the partition and regrouping of 1954 as well as those who had since come from the north, together with local peasants. While there were many non-communist members of the NLF, they were subject to the control of the party cadres and increasingly side-lined as the conflict continued; they did, however, enable the NLF to portray itself as a primarily nationalist, rather than communist, movement, despite being in almost direct control by the Northern regime. The cornerstone of Diệm's counterinsurgency effort was the Strategic Hamlet Program, which called for the consolidation of 14,000 villages of South Vietnam into 11,000 secure hamlets, each with its own houses, schools, wells, and watchtowers. The hamlets were intended to isolate the NLF from the villages, their source of recruiting soldiers, supplies and information.

Assassination attempts

The communists in southern Vietnam resolved that "if we are able to kill Ngô Đình Diệm, the leader of the current fascists dictatorial puppet government, the situation would develop along lines more favourable to our side." On 22 February 1957, when Diệm made a visit to an economic fair in Buôn Ma Thuột, a communist cadre named Ha Minh Tri carried out a directive to assassinate the president. He approached Diệm and fired a pistol from close range, but missed, hitting the Secretary for Agrarian Reform's left arm. The weapon jammed and security overpowered Tri before he was able to fire another shot. Diệm was unmoved by the incident. There was a further attempt to assassinate Diệm and his family in 1962 when two air force officers—acting in unison—bombed the presidential palace.

Land policy

During the 1946–54 war against the French Union forces, the Việt Minh, having gained control of parts of southern Vietnam, initiated land reform. During the period of war, rent collection, which hovered at around 50–70%, was impossible in some parts of the country, or the Việt Minh had compelled landlords to seek safety in the city and confiscated their land, distributing it to the peasants. When Diệm came to power, he reversed these re-allocations as upper-class landowners were part of his ideological support base. In the Mekong Delta, 0.025% of landowners owned 40% of the land; most of the land was owned by absentee landlords and worked by tenant farmers. This generated resentment among the populace, as land ownership was highly valued by Vietnamese society. Diệm declared that landlords could collect no more than 25%, but this was not enforced and in some cases the rent levels were higher than those under French colonisation. Under U.S. pressure, in 1956, he limited individual land holdings to 1.15 km², and reimbursed the landlords for the excess, which he sold to peasants. Many landlords evaded the redistribution by transferring the property to the name of family members. Additionally, the ceiling limit was more than 30 times that allowed in South Korea and Taiwan, and the 370,000 acres (1,500 km) of the Catholic Church's landownings in Vietnam were exempted. As a result, only 13% of the South Vietnam's land was redistributed, and by the end of his regime, only 10% of the tenants had received any land, at a high cost. This policy failure generated anger, and in turn sympathy to the Việt Minh who had given the peasants free land. At the end of Diệm's rule, 10% of the population owned 55% of the land.

Believing the central highlands were of strategic importance to the Việt Cộng or subject to a potential invasion by North Vietnam, Diệm decided to construct a Maginot Line of settlements. The area, inhabited by Montagnard indigenous people, had been largely allowed local autonomy in previous times, and the locals distrusted ethnic Vietnamese. Diệm initiated a program of internal migration where 210,000 Vietnamese, mainly Catholics, were moved to Montagnard land in fortified settlements. When the Montagnards protested, Diệm's forces confiscated their spears and bows, which they used to hunt for daily sustenance. Since then Vietnam has faced Montagnard insurgent separatist movements.

Government policy towards Buddhists

In a country where surveys of the religious composition estimated the Buddhist majority to be between 70 and 90 percent, Diệm's policies generated claims of religious bias. As a member of the Vietnamese Catholic minority, he is widely regarded by historians as having pursued pro-Catholic policies that antagonized many Buddhists, since the Catholic community is anti-Communist. Specifically, the government was regarded as being biased towards Catholics in public service and military promotions, as well as the allocation of land, business favors and tax concessions. Diệm once told a high-ranking officer, forgetting that the man was from a Buddhist background, "Put your Catholic officers in sensitive places. They can be trusted." Many officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam converted to Catholicism in the belief that their military prospects depended on it.

The distribution of weapons to village self-defense militias intended to repel Việt Cộng guerrillas saw weapons only given to Catholics. Buddhists in the army were often denied promotion if they refused to convert to Catholicism. Some Buddhist villages converted en masse in order to receive aid or avoid being forcibly resettled by Diệm's regime. The Catholic Church was the largest landowner in the country, and the "private" status that was imposed on Buddhism by the French, which required official permission to conduct public Buddhist activities, was never repealed by Diệm.

Catholics were also de facto exempt from the corvée labor that the government obliged all citizens to perform; U.S. aid was disproportionately distributed to Catholic majority villages. Under Diệm, the Catholic Church enjoyed special exemptions in property acquisition, and in 1959, Diệm dedicated his country to the Virgin Mary. The white and gold Vatican flag was regularly flown at all major public events in South Vietnam. U.S. Aid supplies tended to go to Catholics, and the newly constructed Huế and Dalat universities were placed under Roman Catholic authority to foster a Catholic-skewed academic environment.

Buddhist crisis

The regime's relations with the United States worsened during 1963, as discontent among South Vietnam's Buddhist majority was simultaneously heightened. In May, in the heavily Buddhist central city of Huế, where Diệm's elder brother was the Catholic Archbishop, the Buddhist majority was prohibited from displaying Buddhist flags during Vesak celebrations commemorating the birth of Gautama Buddha when the government cited a regulation prohibiting the display of non-government flags. A few days earlier, however, Catholics had been encouraged to fly religious flags at another celebration. This led to a protest led by Thích Trí Quang against the government, which was suppressed by Diệm's forces, killing nine unarmed civilians. Diệm and his supporters blamed the Việt Cộng for the deaths and claimed the protesters were responsible for the violence. Although the provincial chief expressed sorrow for the killings and offered to compensate the victims’ families, they resolutely denied that government forces were responsible for the killings and blamed the Viet Cong.

The Buddhists pushed for a five-point agreement: freedom to fly religious flags, an end to arbitrary arrests, compensation for the Huế victims, punishment for the officials responsible and religious equality. Diệm labeled the Buddhists as "damn fools" for demanding something that, according to him, they already enjoyed. He banned demonstrations, and ordered his forces to arrest those who engaged in civil disobedience. On 3 June 1963, protesters attempted to march towards the Từ Đàm pagoda. Six waves of ARVN tear gas and attack dogs failed to disperse the crowds, and finally brownish-red liquid chemicals were doused on praying protesters, resulting in 67 being hospitalised for chemical injuries. A curfew was subsequently enacted.

The turning point came in June when a Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Đức, set himself on fire in the middle of a busy Saigon intersection in protest of Diệm's policies; photos of this event were disseminated around the world, and for many people these pictures came to represent the failure of Diệm's government. A number of other monks publicly self-immolated, and the U.S. grew increasingly frustrated with the unpopular leader's public image in both Vietnam and the United States. Diệm used his conventional anti-communist argument, identifying the dissenters as communists. As demonstrations against his government continued throughout the summer, the special forces loyal to Diệm's brother, Nhu, conducted a brutal August raid of the Xá Lợi pagoda in Saigon. Pagodas were vandalised, monks beaten, the cremated remains of Quảng Đức, which included his heart, a religious relic, were confiscated.

Simultaneous raids were carried out across the country, with the Từ Đàm pagoda in Huế looted, the statue of Gautama Buddha demolished and a body of a deceased monk confiscated. When the populace came to the defense of the monks, the resulting clashes saw 30 civilians killed and 200 wounded. In all 1,400 monks were arrested, and some thirty were injured across the country. The United States indicated its disapproval of Diệm's administration when ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. visited the pagoda ex post facto. No further mass Buddhist protests occurred during the remainder of Diệm's rule (which would amount to less than five months).

Diệm's sister-in-law Madame Nhu, who was the nation's de facto first lady because of Diệm's unmarried status, inflamed the situation by mockingly applauding the suicides. A Catholic convert from Buddhism, she referred to the suicides as "barbecues", stating, "If the Buddhists want to have another barbecue, I will be glad to supply the gasoline." The pagoda raids stoked widespread public disquiet in Saigon. Students at Saigon University boycotted classes and rioted, which led to arrests, imprisonments and the closure of the university; this was repeated at Huế University. When high school students demonstrated, Diệm arrested them as well; over 1,000 students from Saigon's leading high school, most of them children of Saigon civil servants, were sent to re-education camps, including, reportedly, children as young as five, on charges of anti-government graffiti. Diệm's foreign minister Vũ Văn Mẫu resigned, shaving his head like a Buddhist monk in protest. When he attempted to leave the country on a religious pilgrimage to India, he was detained and kept under house arrest.

Coup and assassination

As the Buddhist crisis deepened in July 1963, noncommunist Vietnamese nationalists and the military began preparations for a coup. Bùi Diễm, later South Vietnam's Ambassador to the United States, reported in his memoirs that General Lê Văn Kim requested his aid in learning what the United States might do about Diệm's government. Diễm had contacts in both the embassy and with the high-profile American journalists then in South Vietnam, David Halberstam (New York Times), Neil Sheehan (United Press International) and Malcolm Browne (Associated Press). On 20 August 1963, Nhu's security forces raided the Xá Lợi Pagoda in Saigon. They chose to wear Army uniforms during the raid to make it appear as if the Army were behind the crackdown. Nhu's forces arrested more than 400 monks who had been sitting cross-legged in front of a statue of the Buddha. Thousands of other Buddhists were arrested throughout the country.

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the American ambassador to South Vietnam, refused to meet with Diệm. Upon hearing that a coup d'état was being designed by ARVN generals led by General Dương Văn Minh, and supported by the CIA, Lodge gave secret assurances to the generals that the United States would not interfere. Lucien Conein, a CIA operative, had become a liaison between the U.S. Embassy and the generals, who were led by Trần Văn Đôn. Conein provided a group of South Vietnamese generals with US $42,000 to carry out the coup with the promise that U.S. forces would make no attempt to protect Diệm.

The orders that ended in the deaths of Diệm and his brother originated with W. Averell Harriman and were carried out by Henry Cabot Lodge's own military assistant.

Having served as ambassador to Moscow and governor of New York, W. Averell Harriman was in the middle of a long public career. In 1960, President-elect Kennedy appointed him ambassador-at-large, to operate "with the full confidence of the president and an intimate knowledge of all aspects of United States policy." By 1963, according to Corson, Harriman was running "Vietnam without consulting the president or the attorney general".

The president had begun to suspect that not everyone on his national security team was loyal. As Corson put it, "Kenny O’Donnell (JFK's appointments secretary) was convinced that McGeorge Bundy, the national security advisor, was taking orders from Ambassador Averell Harriman and not the president. He was especially worried about Michael Forrestal, a young man on the White House staff who handled liaison on Vietnam with Harriman".

At the heart of the murders was the sudden recall of Saigon Station Chief Jocko Richardson, and his replacement by a hitherto unfamiliar group. Special Operations Army officer, John Michael Dunn was key to the operation. Dunn took his orders, not from the normal CIA hierarchy but from Harriman and Forrestal.

According to Corson, "John Michael Dunn was known to be in touch with the coup plotters", although Dunn's role has never been made public. Corson believes that Richardson was removed so that Dunn, assigned to Ambassador Lodge for "special operations", could act without hindrance.

Minh and his co-conspirators overthrew the government on 1 November 1963 in a swift coup. On 1 November, with only the palace guard remaining to defend Diệm and his younger brother, Nhu, the generals called the palace offering Diệm exile if he surrendered. That evening, however, Diệm and his entourage escaped via an underground passage to Cholon, where they were captured the following morning, 2 November. The brothers were assassinated together in the back of an M113 armoured personnel carrier with a bayonet and revolver by Captain Nguyễn Văn Nhung, under orders from Dương Văn Minh, while en route to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff headquarters. Diệm was buried in an unmarked grave in a cemetery next to the house of the U.S. Ambassador.

Aftermath

Upon learning of Diệm's ouster and assassination, Hồ Chí Minh reportedly stated: "I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid." The North Vietnamese Politburo was more explicit:

"The consequences of the 1 November coup d'état will be contrary to the calculations of the U.S. imperialists ... Diệm was one of the strongest individuals resisting the people and Communism. Everything that could be done in an attempt to crush the revolution was carried out by Diệm. Diệm was one of the most competent lackeys of the U.S. imperialists  ... Among the anti-Communists in South Vietnam or exiled in other countries, no one has sufficient political assets and abilities to cause others to obey. Therefore, the lackey administration cannot be stabilized. The coup d'état on 1 November 1963 will not be the last."

After Diệm's assassination, South Vietnam was unable to establish a stable government and several coups took place after his death. While the United States continued to influence South Vietnam's government, the assassination bolstered North Vietnamese attempts to characterize the South Vietnamese as "supporters of colonialism".

Honors

•  Philippines: Grand Collar of the Ancient Order of Sikatuna, Rank of Raja (October 13, 1956)

See also

• Vietnam War

References

1. Spencer Tucker Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: a political, social, and military history — Volume 1 - Page xxi - 1998 "For Vietnamese personal names we have chosen to use the Vietnamese system of family name first, followed by middle name, then given name. Subsequent references are to the given name only. Thus, in the case of Ngô Đình Diệm, Ngô is the family name, Đình the middle name, and Diệm the given name. After the first reference, I refer to him only as Diệm. This follows the common Vietnamese practice of using the first name.. "
2. ^ Miller, Edward (2013). Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam. Harvard University Press. p. 23.
3. ^ Tuchman, Barbara (1984). The March of Folly. New York. p. 4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. Moyar, Mark (2006). Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965. New York:: Cambridge University Press. p. 12.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
5. Hunt, Michael (1987). Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy. New Haven, Connecticut. pp. 3–7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. Stephanson, Anders (Spring 1993). "Commentary: Ideology and Neorealist Mirrors". Diplomatic History 17: 285.
7. Miller. p. 22.
8. Miller, p.24.
9. Moyar, p.11.
10. ^ Williams, William Appleman (1972). The Tragedy of American Policy. New York. pp. ch 2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
11. ^ Karnow, pp. 216–217
12. Miller, p.21.
13. Miller, p.24.
14. Moyar, p.12.
15. Miller, p.26.
16. Miller, p.25.
17. ^ Foner, Eric (1995). Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men. New York. p. 4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
18. Warner, p. 89.
19. Lockhart, Bruce McFarland, Bruce McFarland (1993). The end of the Vietnamese monarchy. Council on Southeast Asia Studies, Yale Center for International and Area Studies. pp. 68–86.
20. Latham. Modernization as Ideology. p. 13.
21. Moyar, p.13.
22. Moyar, p.13.
23. Miller, p.30.
24. Trần, Mỹ Vân. Vietnamese Royal Exile. pp. 32–67.
25. Keith, Charles. Catholic Vietnam: A Church from Empire to Nation. p. 212.
26. Miller, p.30.
27. ^ Jacobs, pp. 20–25
28. Miller, p.32.
29. Miller, p.32-33.
30. Miller, p.35.
31. Miller, p.36.
32. Miller, p.
33. Miller, p.38.
34. Miller, p.39-40.
35. Trần Mỹ Vân, p.213-214. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 6 (help)
36. Morgan, Joseph. Wesley Fishel and Vietnam: A special kind of Friend” in The Human Tradition in American since 1945 ed. David Anderson, Wilmington. 2003. pp. p.47-68. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); line feed character in |title= at position 14 (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
37. Moyar, p.33.
38. Morgan, Joseph. The Vietnam Lobby. pp. 1–14.
39. Oberdorfer, Don (2003). Senator Mansfiled: the Extraodinary Life of a Great American Statesman and Diplomat. Washington, DC. p. 77. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 8 (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
40. Cao, Văn Luận (1972). Bên giòng lịch sử, 1940-1965. Sài Gòn - Trí Dũng. pp. 180-189. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 19 (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
41. Moyar, p.33.
42. Chapman, Jessica (2013). Cauldron of resistance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s southern Vietnam. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 69.
43. Years of the Ngô Đình Diệm administration. p. 307. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 27 (help)
44. Moyar, p.41.
45. Chapman, p.74.
46. Moyar, p.41-42.
47. Moyar, p.40.
48. ^ Chapman, p.84.
49. Moyar, p.52.
50. Chapman, p.75.
51. Moyar, p.51-53.
52. Moyar, p.55.
53. Moyar, p.59.
54. Chapman, p.128.
55. Miller, p.6.
56. Moyar, p.54.
57. ^ Karnow, pp. 223–24
58. Langguth, p. 99.
59. ^ Jacobs, p. 95.
60. Gettleman, p. 203.
61. Miller, p.137.
62. Nguyễn, Xuân Hoài. Chế độ độc tài Ngô Đình Diệm (1955-1963).
63. Miller, p.137-139.
64. Miller, p.144.
65. Langguth, p. 108
66. Jacobs, pp. 112–15
67. Nguyễn Xuân Hoài.
68. Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9, p. 89.
69. Lewy, Guetner, (1978), America in Vietnam, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978, pp294-5.
70. Maclear, pp. 70–90
71. Joes, Anthony (2001). The War for South Vietnam, 1954-1975. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 73. ISBN 9780275968069.
72. Carl Colby (director) (September 2011). The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby (Motion picture). New York City: Act 4 Entertainment.
73. Moyar, p. 67.
74. Moyar, pp. 66–67
75. Jacobs, pp. 93–96
76. Jacobs, pp. 90–92.
77. Langguth, pp. 184–85
78. Far Eastern Economic Review, 1991
79. The 1966 Buddhist Crisis in South Vietnam, HistoryNet
80. Gettleman, pp. 275–76, 366.
81. Moyar, pp. 215–16.
82. "South VietNam: The Religious Crisis". Time. 14 June 1963. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
83. Tucker, pp. 49, 291, 293.
84. Maclear, p. 63
85. SNIE 53-2-63, "The Situation in South Vietnam", 10 July 1963
86. Tucker, p. 291.
87. Gettleman, pp. 280–82.
88. "South Vietnam: Whose funeral pyre?". The New Republic. 29 June 1963. p. 9.
89. Buttinger, p. 993
90. Karnow, p. 294
91. Jacobs p. 91
92. "Diem's other crusade". The New Republic. 22 June 1963. pp. 5–6.
93. Halberstam, David (17 June 1963). "Diệm and the Buddhists". New York Times.
94. Topmiller, p. 2
95. Karnow, p. 295.
96. Moyar, pp. 212–213
97. Gettleman, pp. 64–83
98. Gettleman, pp. 264–83.
99. "South Viet Nam: The Crackdown". Time. 30 August 1963. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
100. ^ "South Viet Nam: The Crackdown". Time. 30 August 1963. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
101. Gettleman, pp. 278–83
102. Moyar, pp. 212–16, 231–34
103. Tucker, pp. 292–93
104. "Vu Van Mau, Last Premier Of South Vietnam, Dies at 84", New York Times, 14 September 1998
105. B. Diễm and D. Chanoff, In the Jaws of History, p. 100.
106. B. Diễm and D. Chanoff, In the Jaws of History, p. 101.
107. B. Diệm and D. Chanoff, In the Jaws of History, p. 102.
108. "Ngo Dinh Diem biography". Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
109. "The Secret History of the CIA." Joseph Trento. 2001, Prima Publishing. pp. 334-35.
110. ^ "The Secret History of the CIA." Joseph Trento. 2001, Prima Publishing. pp. 334-335.
111. The Pentagon Papers, Vol. 2 Ch. 4, "The Overthrow of Ngô Đình Diệm, May–November 1963", pp. 201–276,
112. B. Diem, In the Jaws of History, p. 105.
113. G. Herring, America's Longest War, 1996, p. 116.
114. ^ Moyar, p. 286
115. Moyar, pp. 287–90
116. "The Order of Sikatuna". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Sources

• Borthwick, Mark (1998). Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3471-3.
• Buttinger, Joseph (1967). Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled. Praeger Publishers.
• Fall, Bernard B. (1963). The Two Viet-Nams. Praeger Publishers.
• Diem, Bui (1987). In the Jaws of History. Houghton Mifflin.
• Gettleman, Marvin E. (1966). Vietnam: History, Documents, and Opinions on a Major World Crisis. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
• Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-4447-8.
• Karnow, Stanley (1997). Vietnam: A History. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-84218-4.
• Langguth, A. J. (2000). Our Vietnam: the war, 1954–1975. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81202-9.
• Maclear, Michael (1981). Vietnam:The Ten Thousand Day War. New York: Methuen Publishing. ISBN 0-423-00580-4.
• Miller, Edward (2013). Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam. Boston: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-07298-5.
• Moyar, Mark (2006). Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965. New York: Cambridge University Press]. ISBN 0-521-86911-0.
• Olson, James S. (1996). Where the Domino Fell. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-08431-5.
• Topmiller, Robert J. (2006). The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2260-0.
• Tucker, Spencer C. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social and Military History. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-040-9.
• Warner, Denis (1964). The Last Confucian: Vietnam, South-East Asia, and the West. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Further reading

• Fitzgerald, Frances (1972). Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and Americans in Vietnam. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-15919-0.
• Halberstam, David; Singal, Daniel J. (2008). The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-6007-4.
• Hammer, Ellen J. (1987). A Death in November: America in Vietnam, 1963. New York: E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24210-4.
• Jones, Howard (2003). Death of a Generation: how the assassinations of Diem and JFK prolonged the Vietnam War. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505286-2.
• Mann, Robert (2001). A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam. New York: Perseus. ISBN 0-465-04370-4.
• Reeves, Richard (1994). President Kennedy: Profile of Power. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-89289-4.
• Sheehan, Neil (1989). A Bright Shining Lie. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-679-72414-8.

External links

• JFK and the Diem Coup – Provided by the National Security Archive.
• The Pentagon Papers, Vol. 2 Ch. 4 "The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem, May–November, 1963", pp. 201–76

v t e Heads of state of Vietnam since 1945
Empire of Vietnam (1945)	Bảo Đại
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–1976)	Ho Chi Minh Huỳnh Thúc Kháng Tôn Đức Thắng
State / Republic of Vietnam (1949–1975)	Bảo Đại Ngô Đình Diệm Dương Văn Minh Nguyễn Khánh Provisional Leadership Committee Dương Văn Minh Phan Khắc Sửu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Trần Văn Hương Dương Văn Minh
Provisional Revolutionary Government (1969–1976)	Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)	Tôn Đức Thắng Nguyễn Hữu Thọ Trường Chinh Võ Chí Công Lê Đức Anh Trần Đức Lương Nguyễn Minh Triết Trương Tấn Sang Trần Đại Quang Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh Nguyễn Phú Trọng Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Võ Thị Ánh Xuân Võ Văn Thưởng Võ Thị Ánh Xuân Tô Lâm Lương Cường
acting military Chairman of the Council of State

v t e Prime ministers of Vietnam since 1945
Empire of Vietnam (1945)	Trần Trọng Kim
Republic of Cochinchina (1946–1949)	Nguyễn Văn Thinh Lê Văn Hoạch Nguyễn Văn Xuân Trần Văn Hữu
Provisional Central Government of Vietnam (1948–1949)	Nguyễn Văn Xuân
State / Republic of Vietnam (1949–1975)	Bảo Đại Nguyễn Phan Long Trần Văn Hữu Nguyễn Văn Tâm Bửu Lộc Phan Huy Quát Ngô Đình Diệm Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ Nguyễn Khánh Nguyễn Xuân Oánh Nguyễn Khánh Trần Văn Hương Nguyễn Xuân Oánh Phan Huy Quát Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Nguyễn Văn Lộc Trần Văn Hương Trần Thiện Khiêm Nguyễn Bá Cẩn Vũ Văn Mẫu
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–1976)	Ho Chi Minh Huỳnh Thúc Kháng Phạm Văn Đồng
Provisional Revolutionary Government (1969–1976)	Huỳnh Tấn Phát
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)	Phạm Văn Đồng Phạm Hùng Võ Văn Kiệt Đỗ Mười Võ Văn Kiệt Phan Văn Khải Nguyễn Tấn Dũng Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Phạm Minh Chính
acting head of a military government

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