NGO DINH DIEM,
FIRST PRESIDENT OF SOUTH VIETNAM
Ngo Dinh Diem was born on January 3rd in 1901 in Hue, Vietnam as the son of a minister. His family was Roman Catholic
and his father was a counselor to the Vietnamese emperor. Diem went to the School of Law and Administration in Hanoi
and graduated in 1921. That same year, he was made governor of the Phan-Thiet province, which led to his increase in
popularity since he made land reforms and helped the poor. In 1933, Diem was chosen to be the interior minister by
Emperor Bao Dai for the Commission for Administrative Reforms. However, he learned the position was powerless, so he
resigned. This caused his reputation as a nationalist to grow. Once he left his position, he went into seclusion for the next
ten years. While the Japanese were in Vietnam during World War II, Diem was offered invitations to serve as premier, or
the leader. However, he refused and tried to convince the Japanese to let Vietnam have their independence from the
French.
In September 1945, Diem traveled to Hue to stop Bao Dai from joining forces with Ho Chi Minh. Along the way, he was
kidnapped by Viet Minh agents and taken to see Ho Chi Minh after six months. While there, Ho Chi Minh offered Diem a
position in his government, but Diem refused. After being kidnapped and almost killed, Diem traveled the United States. In
1953, he left for Belgium and returned to Vietnam in 1954 since he was called upon by Bao Dai. Once there, Bao Dai
appointed him as prime minister and Diem accepted. Since Bao Dai tried to remove him from office, Diem put together an
election for the Vietnamese to choose between them. Diem declared himself President of the Republic of Vietnam on
October 26, 1956. At first, Diem was a good president by building new schools and helping the economy. However, the
number of people who didn’t like him grew. Since Diem was a Catholic, he didn’t agree with the Buddhists so they
became oppressed since he ignored them. While President, Diem threw many political opponents into prison camps
where they were tortured and killed. By 1959, over half the country was against him.
Diem’s reign was short lived since the country was made up of mostly Buddhists. The uprisings grew and became more
frequent and Buddhists were soon lighting themselves on fire in protest. In August of 1963, the Americans realized they
could not back Diem anymore since he was an ineffective leader. There was a coup set up to overthrown him but Diem
learned about it. Diem and his brother fled to Cho Lon through a tunnel. After spending a day in the tunnel, they agreed to
surrender to the generals. The generals said they would have a safe passage out of the country; but, on their way to get
out of the country, they were discovered by troops who were commanded by a foe of Diem. Because of this, Diem and his
brother were assassinated in the rear of a personnel carrier.