The Ngo Dinh Diem reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Ngo Dinh Diem

Ngo Dinh Diem (Vietnamese Ngô Ðình Diệm, Chinese 吳廷琰 January 3, 1901 - November 1, 1963) was the first President of South Vietnam (1955-63).

Dinh Diem was born in Huế, the original capital of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam. The Ngo family is a Catholic noble family in Vietnam. He was a civil servant in the government of Emperor Bao Dai until World War II and was a strong nationalist and anti-Communist; his elder brother (Dinh Thuc) was archbishop of Hue.

In 1945 he was imprisoned and exiled to China following conflicts with anti-French communist forces that were gaining power in Vietnam. After his release, he refused to join in the brief post-war government of Ho Chi Minh and went into exile in the U.S.A. He returned to be appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam by the Emperor in 1954 following the French withdrawal. He rejected the Geneva Accord (which called for unification and elections in 1956); using a 1955 referendum, he abolished the monarchy and declared himself President of South Vietnam.

His rule was authoritarian and corrupt, exemplified by the imprisonment and execution of hundreds of Buddhists. His refusal to institute an effective land reforms probably contributed to increasing popular support for Ho Chi Minh, but he retained American support. The Americans had originally hoped that Diem could be the charismatic equivalent of Ho Chi Minh, but their opinions began to change in the 1960s. They were annoyed that Diem had not implemented democratization or land reforms, and they felt that nepotism and corruption in his government was hurting the Southern cause.

When the regime turned on a protest by Buddhist monks in June 1963, he lost American aid too; some monks had immolated themselves in protest. Henry Cabot Lodge, the American ambassador in Saigon, refused to meet with Diem and encouraged military officers to overthrow him. The U.S. supported a military coup d'etat of ARVN generals that overthrew the government and executed Ngo, his younger brother (Dinh Nhu) and some others in November. The American leadership expressed shock and disappointment that Diem had been killed, but the opening of the records have shown that they made no attempts to dissuade the plotters from such an action.

U.S. President Lyndon Johnson declared Diem the "Churchill of the decade." In truth, Johnson held Diem and his regime in contempt.

Further Reading

Frances Fitzgerald. 1972. Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and Americans in Vietnam. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-31-615919-0, ISBN 0-67-972394-3, ISBN 0-31-628423-8.

Robert Mann. 2001. A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam. New York: Perseus. ISBN 0-46-504370-4, ISBN 0-46-504369-0.

See also: Vietnam War

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