Problems surrounding the South Vietnamese Government

The saga of government problems in South Vietnam boggles the mind. Following the 1954 Geneva Convention the United States backed Ngo Dinh Diem as head of the government of South Vietnam. Earlier appointed Prime Minister by the Emperor Bao Dai, Diem was essentially the only non-Communist Vietnamese that U.S. officials knew. In early 1955, Diem moved to consolidate his power by moving five loyal army battalions against his opponents. He ignored an effort by Bao Dai to remove him from office, instead calling an October election. In a rigged election, he garnered 98.2% of the vote. In October of 1955 he proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam with himself as president.

A Catholic in a Buddhist society, Diem used force to get his way, throwing political adversaries, real or imagined, into prison camps, torturing and even assassinating enemies. His family and friends held all senior government positions. His brother and his brother's wife, Ngo Dinh Nhu and Madame Nhu, were most influential. Diem's oldest brother, Archbishop Thuc, controlled Catholic property in the South, including 370,000 acres of nontaxable farmland. By 1963 Buddhist protests and rallies against Diem's government were wide-spread. On June 11, 1963, elderly Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc publicly burned himself alive, followed by other monks; Madame Nhu referred to them as "barbecues." The U.S. government was both horrified and embarrassed by Diem's methods of ruling South Vietnam.

By August of 1963, American ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, reported to Washington that an influential faction of South Vietnamese generals wanted to overthrow Diem. The U.S. waffled. On November 1 the generals, led by Major General Duong Van "Big" Minh, seized the radio station and police headquarters and beseiged the presidential palace. Diem and his brother sought refuge in a Catholic church. Diem's request for help was denied by the U.S.; after trying to negotiate with Minh, Diem and his brother were picked up by the army, then murdered.

What follows is brief and omits much detail. Refer to the readings for more information. Following the November 1963 coup, the ruling generals formed a 12-member Military Revolutionary Council. Minh publicly stated that this arrangement would prevent the excesses of the previous regime. In January of 1964 General Nguyen Khanh conducted a coup in which he made Minh the head of state in name only and made himself prime minister. The Americans were impressed with Khanh's promises of uban and rural development, renewal of the Strategic Hamlet program, and institution of a civilian government with a constitution. In the summer of 1964 he made himself president, then resigned when the country protested. The Council decided to install a compromise triumvirate of Khanh, Minh, and General Tran Thien Khiem, with Khanh as acting prime minister in order to restore order. In December of 1964, a group of younger officers in the ARVN known as the "Young Turks" overthrew the Military Revolutionary Council. Early in the following year, they made Khanh premier, but Khanh was ousted in Felbruary in a coup led by General Lam Van Phat. The RVANF air vice-marshal, Nguyen Cao Ky, threatened to bomb headquarters, which toppled Phat and made Phan Huy Quat premier.

In June of 1965 this new Republic of Vietnam government collapsed and on June 12 a triumvirate of generals announced formation of a National Leadership Committee to rule the RVN. Ky was chosen as chief executive, or premier and Army General Nguyen Van Thieu occupied the relatively powerless position of chief of state. This was the ninth government in less than two years. Ky's program was supposedly "social justice," removing corrupt officials and instuting land reforms, price controls, etc. Ky's government managed to hang on for several years, actually drafting a constitution that was completed in March of 1967. Elections were to be held in September of that year. The Armed Forces Council forced Ky and Thieu onto a joint ticket, with Thieu getting the presidential nomination and Ky the vice-presidential. The Thieu-Ky combination won with 34.8% of the vote against ten other slates. Thieu continued to rule South Vietnam until 1975, when the advancing PAVN forces left him no alternative but to resign.

Readings:

1. Kolko, pp. 125-160, 199-282
2. Langguth, pp. 197-299

Questions for consideration and further discussion:

1. Why did the United States give its support to Diem, a Catholic in a Buddhist society?
2. What sort of problems with Diem's rule might have caused so serious a reaction as Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation?
3. Did the series of generals who tried to run Vietnam in the early 1960s after the fall of Diem seem to have any common motivations?
4. What made Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu attractive to the United States government?
5. With so many wrong guesses on the part of the South Vietnamese leaders, what do you think the people of Vietnam might have wanted?

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