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{{Ngô Đình Diệm sidebar}}
'''Ngô Đình Diệm''' ({{IPAc-en|d|j|ɛ|m}} {{respell|dyem}},<ref>[[British Pathé]] – [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rj8-qxROFc "New York Hails Vietnam's President Diem (1957)"]<!--at 0:07--></ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|i:|ə|m}} {{respell|YEE|əm}} or {{IPAc-en|z|i:|m}} {{respell|zeem}}; {{IPA-vi|ŋō ɗìn jîəmˀ|lang|NgoDinhDiem.ogg}}; 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]] ([[South Vietnam|Republic of Vietnam]]) from 1955 until his [[arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem|capture and assassination]] during the [[CIA]]-backed [[1963 South Vietnamese coup]].
He was born into a prominent [[Catholic Church in Vietnam|Catholic]] family with his father, [[Ngô Đình Khả]], being a high-ranking [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarin]] for Emperor [[Thành Thái]] during the [[French Vietnam|French colonial era]]. Diệm was educated at French-speaking schools and considered following his brother [[Ngô Đình Thục]] into the priesthood, but eventually chose to pursue a career in the [[Civil service|civil-service]]. He progressed rapidly in the court of Emperor [[Bảo Đại]], becoming governor of [[Bình Thuận Province]] in 1929 and interior minister in 1933. However, he resigned from the latter position after three months and publicly denounced the emperor as a tool of [[France]]. Diệm came to support [[Vietnamese nationalism]], promoting both [[anti-communism]], in opposition to [[Hồ Chí Minh]], and [[decolonization]], in opposition to Bảo Đại. He established the [[Can Lao Party|Cần Lao Party]] to support his political doctrine of [[Person Dignity Theory]], which was heavily influenced by the teachings of [[Personalism]], mainly from French philosopher [[Emmanuel Mounier]].
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==Family and early life==
[[File:Family of Mr. Ngô Đình Khả.jpg|alt=4 year old Diem and his father in 1905 or 1906
Ngô Đình Diệm was born in 1901 in [[Quảng Bình province]], in [[central Vietnam]]. His family originated in Phú Cam, a Catholic village adjacent to [[Huế]]. His ancestors had been among Vietnam's earliest Catholic converts in the 17th century.<ref>Fall, Bernard B. (1963). ''The Two Viet-Nams.'' Praeger Publishers, p. 235.</ref> Diệm was given a saint's name at birth, ''Gioan Baotixita'' (a Vietnamized form of [[John the Baptist]]), following the custom of the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>Miller, p. 19.</ref> The Ngô-Đình family suffered under the anti-Catholic persecutions of Emperors [[Minh Mạng]] and [[Tự Đức]]. In 1880, while Diệm's father, [[Ngô Đình Khả]] (1850–1925), was studying in [[British Malaya]], an anti-Catholic riot led by Buddhist monks almost wiped out the Ngô-Đình clan. Over 100 of the Ngô clan were "burned alive in a church including Khả's father, brothers, and sisters."<ref>Jacobs, Seth (2006) ''Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963''. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 18.</ref>
Ngô Đình Khả was educated in a Catholic school in British Malaya, where he learned English and studied the European-style curriculum.<ref>Miller, p. 23.</ref> He was a devout Catholic and scrapped plans to become a Roman Catholic [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priest]] in the late 1870s. He worked for the commander of the French armed forces as an interpreter and took part in campaigns against anti-colonial rebels in the mountains of Tonkin during 1880. He rose to become a high-ranking [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarin]], the first headmaster of the National Academy in Huế (founded in 1896), and a counsellor to Emperor [[Thành Thái]] of [[French Indochina]].<ref>Fall, p. 235.</ref> He was appointed minister of the rites and [[chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]] and keeper of the [[eunuch]]s. Despite his collaboration with the French colonizers, Khả was "motivated less by Francophilia than by certain reformist ambitions".<ref>Miller, pp. 23–24.<!--page check needed--></ref> Like [[Phan
Khả decided to abandon his studies for the priesthood and instead married. After his first wife died childless, Khả remarried and, in a period of twenty-three years, had twelve children with his second wife, Phạm Thị Thân, nine of whom survived infancy – six sons and three daughters.<ref>Jarvis, p. 20.</ref> These 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]] and [[Ngô Đình Luyện]]. As a devout Roman Catholic, Khả took his entire family to daily morning [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] and encouraged his sons to study for the priesthood.<ref name=":0">Jacobs, p. 19.</ref> Having learned both Latin and classical Chinese, Khả strove to make sure his children were well educated in both Christian scriptures and [[Confucian classics]].<ref>Miller, p. 22.</ref> 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 the age of fifteen he briefly followed his elder brother, Ngô Đình Thục, who would become Vietnam's highest-ranking Catholic bishop, into seminary.<ref>Jarvis, p. 21.</ref> Diệm swore himself to [[celibacy]] to prove his devotion to his faith, but found monastic life too rigorous and decided not to pursue a clerical career.<ref name="Miller, p.24">Miller, p. 24.</ref> According to [[Mark Moyar]], Diệm's personality was too independent to adhere to the disciplines of the Church, while Jarvis recalls Ngô Đình Thục's ironic observation that the Church was "too worldly" for Diệm.<ref>Jarvis, p. 37.</ref> Diệm also inherited his father's antagonism toward the French colonialists who occupied his country.<ref>Moyar, p. 11</ref>
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After contacting Cường Để, Diệm formed a secret political party, the [[Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội|Association for the Restoration of Great Vietnam]] (Việt Nam Đại Việt Phục Hưng Hội), which was dominated by his Catholic allies in Hue.<ref>Keith, Charles (2012). ''Catholic Vietnam: A Church from Empire to Nation''. University of California Press, p. 212.</ref> When its existence was discovered in the summer of 1944, the French declared Diệm to be subversive and ordered his arrest. He flew to Saigon under Japanese military protection, staying there until the end of WWII.<ref name="Miller, p.30" />
In 1945, after the [[Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina|coup against French colonial rule]], the Japanese offered Diệm the post of prime minister in the [[Empire of Vietnam]] under Bảo Đại, which they organized on leaving the country. He declined initially, but reconsidered his decision and attempted to reverse the refusal. However, Bảo Đại had already given the post to [[Trần Trọng Kim]]. In September 1945, after the Japanese withdrawal, [[Ho Chi Minh|Hồ Chí Minh]] proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and in the Northern half of Vietnam, his [[Viet Minh|Việt Minh]] began fighting the French administration. 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, who recognized Diệm's virtues and, wanting to extend the support for his new government,<ref>Jacobs, p. 22.</ref> asked Diệm to be a minister of the interior. Diệm refused to join the Việt Minh, assailing Hồ for the murder of his brother Ngô Đình Khôi by Việt Minh cadres.<ref name="early k" /><ref name="mid j">Jacobs, pp. 20–25</ref>[[File:5 vị Thượng thư từ trái qua phải Hồ Đắc Khải, Phạm Quỳnh, Thái Văn Toản, Ngô Đình Diệm, Bùi Bằng Đoàn.jpg|alt=The five high-ranking mandarins (Thượng thư) of the Nguyễn dynasty during the reign of the Bảo Đại Emperor: Hồ Đắc Khải, Phạm Quỳnh, Thái Văn Toản, Ngô Đình Diệm, and Bùi Bằng Đoàn.|left|thumb|The five high-ranking [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarins]] (''Thượng thư'') of the Nguyễn dynasty during the reign of Emperor [[Bảo Đại]] (from left to right): [[Hồ Đắc Khải]], [[Phạm Quỳnh]], [[Thái Văn Toản]],
Diệm also secretly maintained contact with high-ranking leaders of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, attempting to convince them to leave Hồ Chí Minh's government and join him. Meanwhile, Diệm lobbied French colonial officials for “true independence” for Vietnam, but was disappointed when Bảo Đại agreed to French demands for an “associate state” within the French Union, which allowed France to maintain its diplomatic, economic, and military policies in Vietnam.<ref>Miller, p. 35.</ref> In the meantime, the French had created the [[State of Vietnam]] and Diệm refused Bảo Đại's offer to become the Prime Minister. On 16 June 1949, he
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 his political status, Diệm decided to leave Vietnam in 1950.<ref name="early k" /><ref name="mid j" />
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In the first period of his premiership, Diệm did not have much power in the government; he lacked control of the military and police forces, and the civil system's key positions were still held by French officials. He also could not control the Bank of Indochina. Besides, Diệm had to face massive obstacles: refugee issues; the French colonists wanting 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 the [[Hòa Hảo]] and [[Cao Đài]] sectarian armies wanted positions in Diệm's cabinet and complete administrative control over the areas in which they had large numbers of followers; and the major threat of [[Bình Xuyên]], an organized crime syndicate that controlled the National Police led by [[Lê Văn Viễn]], whose power was focused in Saigon.<ref>Moyar, p. 41.</ref> In summer 1954, the three organizations controlled approximately one-third of the territory and population of South Vietnam.<ref>Chapman, p. 74</ref> 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.<ref>Moyar, pp. 41–42.</ref>
Additionally, around one-third of the territory and population of South Vietnam was under the control of the Hòa Hảo and Cao Đài sectarian armies, who wanted positions in Diệm's cabinet and complete administrative control, and the Bình Xuyên, an organized crime syndicate that controlled the National Police led by Lê Văn Viễn, whose power was focused in Saigon.{{cn|date=June 2024}}
=== Partition ===
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In August 1954, Diệm also had to face the "Hinh crisis" when Hinh launched a series of public attacks on Diem, proclaiming that South Vietnam needed a “strong and popular” leader, as well as threatening to coup. However, at 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 the national army to General [[Nguyễn Văn Vy]].<ref name=":4">Chapman, p. 84.</ref> But the National Army officers favoured Diệm's leadership over General Vy, which forced him to flee to Paris.<ref>Moyar, p. 52.</ref> Despite the failure of Hinh's alleged coup, the French continued to encourage Diệm's enemies in an attempt to destabilize him.<ref name=":4"/>
On 31 December 1954, Diệm established the [[National Bank of Vietnam]] and replaced the [[French Indochinese piastre|Indochinese banknotes]] with new [[South Vietnamese đồng|Vietnamese banknotes]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAyCDwAAQBAJ&dq=On+31+December+1954%2C+Di%E1%BB%87m+established+the+National+Bank+of+Vietnam+and+replaced+the+Indochinese+banknotes+with+new+Vietnamese+banknotes&pg=PA66|title=Beyond Political Skin: Colonial to National Economies in Indonesia and Vietnam (1910s–1960s)|page=66|publisher=[[Springer Nature]]|last=Phạm |first=Văn Thuỷ|date=2019|isbn=978-9811337116}}</ref> In early 1955, although American advisors encouraged 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.<ref>Chapman, p. 75.</ref> In April 1955, Diệm's army forces took most of Bình Xuyên's posts in Saigon after a victory in the [[Battle of Saigon (1955)|Battle of Saigon]]. Within a few months, Diệm's troops wiped out the Bình Xuyên's remnants, leaving only a few small bands, who then joined forces with the communists.{{cn|date=June 2024}}
The defeat of Bình Xuyên increased the authority and prestige of Diệm's government and marked the end of French efforts to remove Diệm.<ref>Moyar, pp. 51–53.</ref> Most of the Cao Đài leaders chose to rally to Diệm's government.<ref>Moyar, p. 55.</ref> Diệm then dismantled the private armies of the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo religious sects. By the end of 1955, Diệm had almost taken control of South Vietnam, and his government was stronger than ever before.<ref>Moyar, p. 59.</ref> In April 1956, along with the capture of [[Ba Cụt]], the leader of the last Hòa Hảo rebels, Diệm almost subdued all of his non-communist enemies, and could focus on his Vietnamese communist opponents.<ref>Chapman, p. 128.</ref> According to Miller, Diệm's capacity in subduing his enemies and consolidating his power strengthened U.S. support of his government, although the U.S. government had planned to withdraw its backing from Diệm during his early difficult years of leadership.<ref>Miller, p. 6.</ref>
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On 26 October 1955, Diệm proclaimed the formation of the Republic of Vietnam, with himself as its first President until 26 October 1956. The first Constitution provided articles to establish the republic and organize the election of its president.<ref name="Grant">{{cite journal|title=The Viet Nam Constitution of 1956|first=J. A. C.|last= Grant|date=June 1958| url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/viet-nam-constitution-of-1956/59720690F963611C93A9DA2E40CF4350=|journal=[[American Political Science Review]]|volume=52|issue=2|pages=437–462|access-date=28 October 2022|doi=10.2307/1952326|jstor=1952326 |s2cid=143647818 }}</ref> The 1954 Geneva Accords prescribed elections to reunify the country in 1956. Diệm refused to hold these elections, claiming that a free election was not possible in the North<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaootJV5BR4C&dq=Unheralded+victory+Poland&pg=PA8 |title=Unheralded Victory: The Defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, 1961–1973|first=Mark|last= William Woodruff|year=2005|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0891418665}}</ref> and that since the previous State of Vietnam had not signed the accords, they were not bound by it<ref>{{cite book|url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/vietnamese-communists-relations-with-china-and-the-second-indochina-conflict-1956-1962/|title=Vietnamese Communists' Relations with China and the Second Indochina War (1956–62)|first=Ang|last= Cheng Guan|date=1997| publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]| page=11|isbn=0-7864-0404-3}}</ref> – despite having been part of the French Union,<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Bao Dai Experiment|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2753754|journal=[[Pacific Affairs]]|volume= 23 |issue=1|page=55|first=Ellen J. |last=Hammer| year=1950 |doi=10.2307/2753754 | jstor=2753754 |access-date=28 October 2022}}</ref> which itself was bound by the Accords.<ref>"Geneva Agreements 20–21 July 1954" (PDF). ''[[United Nations]]''. 1954.</ref> According to historian [[Keith Taylor (historian)|Keith Taylor]], Diệm's rejection of the Geneva Accords was a way of objecting to the French colonization of Vietnam, while at the same time expressing his opinion of Bảo Đại, and the establishment of the First Republic of Vietnam served to assert Vietnamese independence from France.<ref>Taylor, p. 6.</ref> At the same time, the first Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam was promulgated. According to the Constitution, the President was granted an inordinate amount of power, and his governing style became increasingly authoritarian over time.<ref>Miller, p. 137.</ref>
Diệm's rule was [[authoritarian]] and [[nepotism|nepotistic]]. His most trusted official was his brother Nhu, leader of the primary pro-Diệm party, the Cần Lao Party.
Diệm's rule was also pervaded by family corruption. Cẩn was widely believed to be involved in several illegal operations, namely the illegal smuggling of [[rice]] to North Vietnam on the black market, the opium trade via [[Laos]], in monopolizing the [[cinnamon]] trade, and amassing a fortune in foreign banks.<ref>Buttinger, pp. 954–955.</ref><ref>Langguth, p. 258.</ref> With Nhu, Cẩn competed for U.S. contracts and rice trade.<ref>Karnow, p. 246.</ref> Thuc, the most powerful religious leader in the country, was allowed to solicit "voluntary contributions to the Church" from Saigon businessmen, which was likened to "tax notices."<ref>Jacobs, p. 89.</ref> Thuc also used his position to acquire farms, businesses, urban real estate, rental property, and rubber plantations in the name of the Catholic Church. He also used [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]] (ARVN) personnel to work on his timber and construction projects. The Nhus amassed a fortune by running numbers and lottery rackets, manipulating currency and extorting money from Saigon businesses, while Luyen became a multimillionaire by speculating in [[Piastre|Piastres]] and [[British Pounds|Pounds]] on the currency exchange using inside government information.<ref>Olson, p. 98.</ref>
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===Foreign policy===
[[File:Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington - ARC 542189.jpg|thumb|Diệm, accompanied by US Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], arrives at [[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport|Washington National Airport]] in 1957. Diệm is shown shaking hands with the president of the
{{Main|Ngô Đình Diệm presidential visit to Australia|Ngô Đình Diệm presidential visit to the United States}}The foreign policy of the [[Republic of Vietnam]] (RVN), according to Fishel, "to a very considerable extent", was the policy of Ngô Đình
Diệm himself during this period.<ref>Henderson and Fishel, p. 4.</ref> He was the decisive factor in formulating foreign policies of the RVN, besides the roles of his adviser – Ngô Đình Nhu and his foreign ministers: [[Trần Văn Độ]] (1954–1955), Vũ Văn Mẫu (1955–1963) and [[Phạm Đăng Lâm]] (1963) who played subordinate roles in his regime. Nevertheless, since Diệm had to pay much attention to domestic issues in the context of the Vietnam War, foreign policy did not receive appropriate attention from him. Diệm paid more attention to countries that affected Vietnam directly and he seemed to personalize and emotionalize relations with other nations.<ref name=":7">Henderson and Fishel, p. 5.</ref> The issues Diệm paid more attention in foreign affairs were: the Geneva Accords, the withdrawal of the French, international recognition, the cultivation of the legitimacy of the RVN and the relations with the United States, Laos (good official relations) and [[Cambodia]] (complicated relations, especially due to border disputes and minority ethnicities), and especially North Vietnam.<ref name=":7"/> Besides, the RVN also focused on [[diplomatic relations]] with other Asian countries to secure its international recognition.<ref>Henderson and Fishel</ref>
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