Ngo Dinh Diem Biography and Timeline

Conference of Geneva

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Conference of Geneva

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Election

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Independence of Vietnam

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

Role range: 1954-1963

President of Vietnam

Appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam, 1st term

Role range: 1954-1963

Rule of Vietnam

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Declaration of War

War breaks out in Saigon

Role range: 1954-1963

Rebellion of Binh Xuyen

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Capture of Saigon

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

Alliance France and South Vietnam

France agrees to deploy troops against the Vietminh

Role range: 1954-1963

Accords of Geneva

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Election

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

Role range: 1954-1963

President of Vietnam

Appointed Prime Minister of Southern Vietnam, 2nd term

Role range: 1954-1963

Dismissal

Bao Dai dismisses Prime Minister Diem but Diem refuses to resign

Role range: 1954-1963

Constitution of Vietnam

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Referendum

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

Role range: 1954-1963

US-Backed Referendum

Consolidates power in South Vietnam with US support

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1955-1963

Constitution of Vietnam

Diem declares himself President & a Republic is declared

Role range: 1954-1963

President of Vietnam

Appointed President of Southern Vietnam, Emperor Annam is rejected

Role range: 1954-1963

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Election

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Independence 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

Role range: 1954-1963

President 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

Role range: 1954-1963

Referendum

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

Role range: 1954-1963

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

Role range: 1954-1963

US Visit

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1955-1963

Coup

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

Role range: 1954-1963

Counterinsurgency Campaign

Expands counterinsurgency efforts after the creation of the National Liberation Front

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1955-1963

Mobilization

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Requests a defense pact with the United States

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Requests a defense pact with the United States

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Sunrise

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Sunrise

Diem orders bombing raids against suspected Viet Cong-controlled hamlets

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Plot

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Strategic Hamlet Program

Promotes the Strategic Hamlet Program against communist influence in the countryside

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1955-1963

Buddhist Crisis

Faces international outrage after Buddhist protests and repression

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1955-1963

Demonstrations

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Massacre

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

Role range: 1960-1975 – 1954-1963

Coup

Overthrown & killed by a coup, with tacit US approval