Ngo Dinh Diem Biography

Vietnam had been partitioned at the Geneva Conference after the defeat of the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, with the State of Vietnam ruling the country south of the 17th parallel. The partition was intended to be temporary, with national elections scheduled for 1956 to create a Government of a reunified nation

The partition was intended to be temporary, with national elections scheduled for 1956 to create a Government of a reunified nation

Vietnam had been partitioned at the Geneva Conference after the defeat of the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, with the State of Vietnam ruling the country south of the 17th parallel

Appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam, 1st term

Vietnam had been partitioned at the Geneva Conference after the defeat of the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, with the State of Vietnam ruling the country south of the 17th parallel

The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The Geneva Conference appoints Ngo Dinh Diem President of Vietnam

War breaks out in Saigon

Supporters of Diem defeat Bao Dai & force Binh Xuyen rebels out of the capital

Supporters of Prime Minister drive the Binh Xuyen rebels out of the capital

France agrees to deploy troops against the Vietminh

Rejects the Geneva accords & the elections, a decision backed up by the USA. Diem refuses to hold the reunification elections, pointing out that the State of Vietnam had not signed the Geneva Accords

Rejects the Geneva accords & the elections, a decision backed up by the USA. Diem refuses to hold the reunification elections, pointing out that the State of Vietnam had not signed the Geneva Accords

Appointed Prime Minister of Southern Vietnam, 2nd term

Diem scheduled a referendum for October 1955 on whether South Vietnam should become a republic, Diem wins the referendum, which was rigged by his brother Nhu, and proclaimed himself the President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam. Diem refuses to hold the reunification elections, pointing out that the State of Vietnam had not signed the Geneva Accords

Diem refuses to hold the reunification elections, pointing out that the State of Vietnam had not signed the Geneva Accords

Diem scheduled a referendum for October 1955 on whether South Vietnam should become a republic, Diem wins the referendum, which was rigged by his brother Nhu, and proclaimed himself the President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam

Diem scheduled a referendum for October 1955 on whether South Vietnam should become a republic, Diem wins the referendum, which was rigged by his brother Nhu, and proclaimed himself the President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam

Diem scheduled a referendum for October 1955 on whether South Vietnam should become a republic, Diem wins the referendum, which was rigged by his brother Nhu, and proclaimed himself the President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam

Diem scheduled a referendum for October 1955 on whether South Vietnam should become a republic, Diem wins the referendum, which was rigged by his brother Nhu, and proclaimed himself the President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam

Bao Dai dismisses Prime Minister Diem but Diem refuses to resign

Diem proclaims a South Vietnamese Republic. A constitution was written by a rubber stamp legislature which gave Diem the power to create laws by decree and arbitrarily give himself emergency powers

Diem proclaims a South Vietnamese Republic. A referendum gives PM Diem an overwhelming majority over Bao Dai

Consolidates power in South Vietnam with US support

Diem declares himself President & a Republic is declared

Appointed President of Southern Vietnam, Emperor Annam is rejected

Visits the United States and is presented as an anti-communist ally

Expands counterinsurgency efforts after the creation of the National Liberation Front

A paratroop revolt is quashed after Diem stalled for negotiations to buy time for loyalists to put down the coup attempt

Requests a defense pact with the United States after attacks by the Vietcong. Rejects US offers to increase troops & military advisers

Kennedy sends General Taylor & advisers to discuss troop support for Diem

Requests a defense pact with the United States after attacks by the Vietcong

Avoids losing his life when the Presidential Palace is bombed. Announces on the radio that he owes his life to "divine protection"

Avoids losing his life when the Presidential Palace is bombed. Announces on the radio that he owes his life to "divine protection"

Promotes the Strategic Hamlet Program against communist influence in the countryside

Diem orders bombing raids against suspected Viet Cong-controlled hamlets

An operation to corral peasants into armed stockades & seal them off from the Vietcong. 50 hamlets are infiltrated & taken over by Viet Cong who kill village leaders

Offers an amnesty to communist soldiers

An inferior Vietcong force defeats a South Vietnamese Div led by officers picked by Diem

A law against the flying of religious flags was selectively invoked; the Buddhist flag was banned from display on Vesak while.

Discontent with Diem and Nhu exploded into mass protest during the summer of 1963 when nine Buddhists died at the hand of Diems army and police on Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha.

the Vatican flag was displayed to celebrate the anniversary of the consecration of Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc, Diems brother.

A Buddhist burns himself to death & triggers off demonstrations against the Government

Faces international outrage after Buddhist protests and repression

Special Forces raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands of monks and causing a death toll estimated to be in the hundreds

Special Forces raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands of monks and causing a death toll estimated to be in the hundreds

Ngo Dinh is captured & burnt to death. Captured & burnt to death

Overthrown & killed by a coup, with tacit US approval

Overthrown & killed by a coup, with tacit US approval

Death of Ngo Dinh Diem, assassinated

Overthrown and killed after US officials indicate opposition to his rule

Marks the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup led by General Duong Van Minh. Diem and his adviser, younger brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, are arrested after the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) had been successful in a bloody overnight siege on Gia Long Palace in Saigon

Marks the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup led by General Duong Van Minh

Marks the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup led by General Duong Van Minh

Death of Ngo Dinh Diem

Killed after the coup that ends his presidency