“Diem was the kind of asian we can live with,” said a Supreme court Justice Member (Conflict). The Diem family was a powerful family due to the fact that Ngo Dinh Diem was the prime minister of South Vietnam in 1954. Diem grew up in the same region as the person he was going against. Diem grew up as strong catholic member. He led vietnam with a strong sense of anti-communism (Vietnam War). Diem was a powerful ruler who rose to power in South Vietnam, then fell harshly from his position after his corruption. The corruption ended up getting him killed by his own country's generals.
Diem rose to power quickly mainly due to America favoring him. America had many reasons to favor him. Diem grew up in a higher class family and received a decent education. As a smart kid, he studied law at a Vietnamese university, after he declined a scholarship in France (Conflict). Diem was the best pick of the remaining potential leaders that weren't dead or joined the enemy and communism (Vietnam War). The biggest reason America favored Diem was because he was strongly anti-communist. Diem was also catholic, along with many Americans (Conflict).
In 1933, Diem was dismissed from office because the French did not like him. He wanted Vietnamese independence, and France had lost their patience with him. Until 1950, Diem did nothing eventful. He focused on religion and things that he enjoyed doing. Then in 1950, he fled Vietnam due to the Viet Minh coming after him. He showed up one year later in America. There, he did what is called ‘networking’. He met with important people, increasing his popularity in the states. At the Geneva conference, U.S. had mentioned Diem as a potential leader. “The only boy we got out there” (Conflict). French had disagreed, but later decided he was the lesser of the evils (Ngo Dinh Diem). They held a vote in the country to elect a prime minister. It was between Diem and Bao Dai, the former emperor. The election was most likely rigged, as he won with 98% of the votes. This was just the start of his corruption (Conflict, Ngo Dinh Diem).
Diem was always a person who was uneasy about changes that were requested of him. He ended up making changes to the land in South Vietnam even though he did not want to.
Vietnam has a very rich and cultural diverse background dating all the way back to 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded and paved the way for English colonization. The French had been colonizing since the 19th century. The French role in Vietnams history is critical; they started out by bringing these simple peasants to the latest technology of farming and hunting (Yancey 37). The French helped these people out greatly in the beginning, but like all stories of occupation go they just got worse. They started forcing rules and laws on the people of Vietnam. Thus started the First Vietnam War, also known as the Indochina War between France and Vietnam. "The French possessed military superiority, but the Vietnamese had already the hearts and minds of the country. (38). Even from the beginning the Vietnamese had the odds to there favor. The French looked at the wars in numbers and how many lost on each side. They gathered from all the battles that they were winning because the Vietnamese casualties far outweighed the French; nonetheless they were wrong. To a certain point the French were fighting a game that they could not win at any cost. The French had the military superiority but the Vietnamese had the manpower and the Guerilla tactics. The Indochina War ended with French loosing terrible at Dienbienphu, where a whole French garrison was wiped out.
Jacob in his book is very critical of the actions that both the Americans and Diem took in the establishment of South Vietnam. As the title of the book suggests, the author claims that Diem and his actions resulted in America becoming stuck in a war that would last over a decade. Diem, who was not very well known in either the United States as well as his own nation at the time the book starts in the early 1950s, was able to perpetuate himself into a position of power through use of both his faith as well as perpetuating generalized American fears. In the first chapter of his book, Jacobs looks at Diem’s early rise to power. Diem first worked under the French where he stood as a Minister of the Interior in the Bao Dai puppet government. Where Diem hated that the French who had control over Vietnam both economically as well as politically, one thing he hated more where the Viet Minh. The Vi...
When president of south Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem decided that the election of 1956 should be canceled, America strongly agreed so that Minh could not gain control of the whole country. Diem was a Catholic, which angered the country consisting mostly of Buddhist. In opposition to Diem, a new regime was conjured up in south Vietnam called the Vietcong. Vietcong were residents of South Vietnam who were in favor of the communist rule in North Vietnam.
This book would be an excellent source for anyone wanting to understand this period of the entrance into the Vietnam War. It is a great look into the character of each of the participants. It also would benefit those who are studying and learning how to develop strategy and policy for future wars that the United States may involve itself.
Ho Chi Minh was for a time the Devil incarnate to America. In retrospect, he was a freedom fighter. He had read and embraced the ideals of the Declaration of Independence (The Socialist Republic of Vietnam Government Portal, 2013). He could have been an ally and a friend. Instead, fear led the U.S. to fight him, and lose, with a staggering cost in blood and treasure. Some lessons were learned, many others were not, and the legacy of Vietnam still haunts us today.
eager to fight Communism in Vietnam. But, unlike most wars of American time, the action in
Over three years, the Diem regime grew even more hated, there were 16,000 U.S. Troops in South Vietnam, the Southern Vietnam army had exemplified its ineptness in the battle of Ap Bac, in which a small band of Viet Minh fought off a much larger force of better equipped South Vietnamese. That day they were led by one of South Vietnam's most trusted Generals, Huynh Van Cao. Most of the U.S. Advisers were in favor of a coup, with one of the chief demands being that Ngo Ninh Nhu be removed. It was believed that he was in charge of the secret police, he was also Diem's most powerful adviser. The CIA came into contact with the generals planning to remove Diem.
Communism has been and still remains as one of the biggest threats to a democratic government. The tensions between North Vietnam, which was communist, and non-communistic South Vietnam’s governments occurred over the desire to gain absolute control and eradicate the other opposing rival government. Vietnam, during this time period, was fighting a civil war composed of the Northern regions and Southern regions in which the North wished to change the democratic governments that were currently in effect. The speech “On Vietnam and Not Seeking Re-election” by Lyndon B. Johnson, explains the Vietnam War and why he did not seek to be re-elected.
In the end Pham’s desire to become fully Vietnamese has ended. He has come to terms with the fact he is more American than he is Vietnamese.
Herring begins his account with a summary of the First Indochina War. He reports that the Vietnamese resisted French imperialism as persistently as they had Chinese. French colonial policies had transformed the Vietnamese economic and social systems, giving rise to an urban middle class, however; the exploitation of the country and its people stimulated more radical revolutionary activity. Herring states that the revolution of 1945 was almost entirely the personal creation of the charismatic leader Ho Chi Minh. Minh is described as a frail and gentle man who radiated warmth and serenity, however; beneath this mild exterior existed a determined revolutionary who was willing to employ the most cold- blooded methods in the cause to which he dedicated his life. With the guidance of Minh, the Vietminh launched as a response to the favorable circumstances of World War II. By the spring of 1945, Minh mobilized a base of great support. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Vietminh filled the vacuum. France and the Vietminh attempted to negotiate an agreement, but their goals were irreconcilable.
Long story short, let me be honest and say that the longer essay stapled to the back of this one is the one I wrote first, because I read the instructions wrong. I thought I would attach that paper also and turn it in, since I took the time to write it, and finished it before realizing it was not what you were looking for. It does, however, relate to this paper, because in this paper I will (indirectly) give the reasons why I wanted to write that paper in the first place.
The Vietnam War brought many tears and casualties to both the United States and Vietnam. Millions of soldiers lost their lives in the time consuming battle. On February 8, 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote a letter to Ho Chi Minh, Dictator of Vietnam at the time. President Johnson’s letter expresses his hopes of ending this conflict that has gone on so long in Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh replied back on February 15, 1967 stating that it had been the United States that prolonged the wicked war. President Ho Chi Minh’s reply to President Johnson was the more persuasive of the two letters, because he appealed more to pathos, used stronger and bolder diction, and asked an important rhetorical question.
Vann arrived in Vietnam on March 23, 1962 as part of the new U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam. He became a chief advisor to an ARVN infantry division. His duty was to advise his Vietnamese counter part, but he officially had no power over any ARVN troops. It was this situation that became a major point of conflict between him and those who were running the war.
Eisenhower, outlined in a powerful speech what has now become known as the “Domino Theory”. Eisenhower reinforced the need for the US, to not only contain the USSR at pre-determined critical locations, but in all locations (Leeson & Dean 2009). As the Domino Theory proposed, if one nation became communist, the surrounding nations were likely to become communist and thus, falling like a row of dominos. As a result of these fears, US policy makers viewed Vietnam of upmost importance. Domino-theory logic held that if Vietnam was to become a communist nation, the potential for all of Indochina and even all of Southeast Asia to become communist rose. Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh’s popularity in both North and South Vietnam were escalating. The upcoming free elections promised at the Geneva Convention and scheduled to occur in 1956, gave promise to a unified, communist Vietnam. For US leaders this sparked there worst fears, thus the US threw its support behind the politician Ngo Dinh Diem (Rosenau
Vietnam was a struggle which, in all honesty, the United States should never have been involved in. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem.