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v. t. e. Ngô Đình Diệm ( / djɛm / dyem, [2] / ˈjiːəm / YEE-əm or / ziːm / zeem; Vietnamese: [ŋō ɗìn jîəmˀ] ⓘ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of Vietnam) from ...
- Overview
- Early life and rise to power
- Vietnam War and assassination
Ngo Dinh Diem was born into one of the noble families of Vietnam. His ancestors in the 17th century had been among the first Vietnamese converts to Roman Catholicism. He was on friendly terms with the Vietnamese imperial family in his youth.
What did Ngo Dinh Diem do?
As president of South Vietnam (1955–63), Ngo Dinh Diem assumed dictatorial powers. Diem’s heavy-handed tactics against the Viet Cong insurgency deepened his government’s unpopularity, and his brutal treatment of the opposition to his regime alienated the South Vietnamese populace, notably Buddhists. In 1963 he was murdered during a coup d’état by some of his generals.
What were Ngo Dinh Diem’s jobs?
In 1933 Ngo Dinh Diem was the emperor Bao Dai’s minister of the interior. In 1954 Diem began serving as prime minister in what would become the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Diem defeated Bao Dai in a referendum in October 1955, ousted the emperor, and made himself president.
Ngo Dinh Diem (born January 3, 1901, Quang Binh province, northern Vietnam—died November 2, 1963, Cho Lon, South Vietnam [now in Vietnam]) Vietnamese political leader who served as president, with dictatorial powers, of what was then South Vietnam, from 1955 until his assassination.
Diem was born into one of the noble families of Vietnam. His ancestors in the 17th century had been among the first Vietnamese converts to Roman Catholicism. He was on friendly terms with the Vietnamese imperial family in his youth, and in 1933 he served as the emperor Bao Dai’s minister of the interior. However, he resigned that same year in frustration at French unwillingness to countenance his legislative reforms. Relinquishing his titles and decorations, Diem spent the next 12 years living quietly in Hue. In 1945 he was captured by the forces of the communist leader Ho Chi Minh, who invited Diem to join Ho’s independent government in the newly declared Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), hoping that Diem’s presence would win Catholic support. Diem rejected the proposal, however, and went into self-imposed exile, living abroad for most of the next decade.
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In 1954 Diem returned at Bao Dai’s request to serve as prime minister of a U.S.-backed government in what in the following year would be proclaimed as the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Diem defeated Bao Dai in a government-controlled referendum in October 1955, ousted the emperor, and made himself president of South Vietnam. Diem refused to carry out the 1954 Geneva Accords, which had called for free elections to be held throughout Vietnam in 1956 in order to establish a national government. With the south torn by dissident groups and political factions, Diem established an autocratic regime that was staffed at the highest levels by members of his own family.
Diem, assisted by U.S. military and economic aid, was able to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees from North Vietnam in the south, but his own Catholicism and the preference he showed for fellow Roman Catholics made him unacceptable to Buddhists, who were an overwhelming majority in South Vietnam. Diem never fulfilled his promise of land reforms, and during his rule communist influence and appeal grew among southerners as the communist-inspired National Liberation Front, or Viet Cong, launched an increasingly intense guerrilla war against his government. The military tactics Diem used against the insurgency were heavy-handed and ineffective and served only to deepen his government’s unpopularity and isolation.
Diem’s imprisoning and, often, killing of those who expressed opposition to his regime—whom he alleged were abetting communist insurgents—further alienated the South Vietnamese populace, notably Buddhists, who increasingly protested Diem’s discrimination against them. Matters with the Buddhists came to a head in 1963 when, after government forces killed several people at a May rally celebrating the Buddha’s birthday, Buddhists began staging large protest rallies, and three monks and a nun immolated themselves. Those actions finally persuaded the United States to withdraw its support from Diem, and his generals assassinated him during a coup d’état.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Nov 13, 2009 · 1963. Ngo Dinh Diem assassinated in South Vietnam. Following the overthrow of his government by South Vietnamese military forces the day before, President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother are ...
- 2 min
St. Francis Xavier's Church, where the Ngo brothers were arrested A pew in the church is marked with a small plaque identifying the spot where President Ngo Dinh Diem was seized after taking refuge here with his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu on 2 November 1963, after fleeing the Presidential Palace.
Jun 12, 2006 · Three weeks after the deaths of Diem and Nhu, President Kennedy himself was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Despite the behind-the-scenes American involvement in the death of Ngo Dinh Diem, the Assassinations Report concluded by stating, The details of Diem’s and Nhu’s deaths are not known. None of the informed sources give any ...
- Peter Kross
The U.S. government saw South Vietnam's autocratic ruler, Ngo Dinh Diem, as a bulwark against Communism. But Diem was far from an ideal partner: Suspicious of anyone but his immediate family, he often frustrated American policy makers. But his success dealing with internal threats gave many hope that he would prove to be a reliable ally, so the ...
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Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-63) was the American-backed leader of South Vietnam from 1954 until his overthrow and execution in November 1963. Born in the old imperial capital Hue, Diem’s family were strict Catholics and better off than most Vietnamese. His father worked in the imperial palace and for a time was in charge of housekeeping and tending ...
