From 1955 through 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was President of South Vietnam and we supported him against the Communist North Vietnamese.  The United States provided military advisors, weapons, and other financial aid to the Diem government.  However, it turned out that Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu,  were corrupt leaders.  They mistreated people, murdered opponents, jailed political rivals, and mishandled financial aid.  Diem, a Catholic in a predominately Buddhist country, removed most Buddhists from political offices, and his troops even shot at Buddhists at a festival in Hue. The United States came to know that Diem was corrupt but didn’t know what to do because of our mutual goal of stopping the spread of Communism.

Religious intolerance on the part of Diem was so bad that it led to protests on the part of many Buddhists.  Some Buddhists monks died as martyrs in acts of self-immolation, pictures of which ended up in U.S newspapers causing Americans to wonder just who we were supporting.

The United States grew very weary and wary of Diem.  Word of a coup developed and we knew it was going to take place but we did not warn Diem.  The coup occurred and both Diem and his brother were assassinated in early November, 1963.

Several coups followed the 1963 coup and the total chaos in South Vietnam’s government led directly to further U.S. involvement.  Some people in our government felt that the chaos in South Vietnam and its lack of leadership was actually our best opportunity to walk away from the situation without it being called a defeat.  Remember, this was 1963, well before the first U.S. ground troops were sent to Vietnam.  We had about 20,000 advisors in Vietnam and were not officially directly involved in military action.  Instead, the absence of strong leadership in South Vietnam
made it clear to our military and political leaders, that the only way to stop the Communists was to get more directly involved and take greater control of the war.

This opportunity to walk away was also not seriously considered because three weeks after the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, President Kennedy was  assassinated.  That’s important because Lyndon Johnson then suddenly became President at a critical point in the Vietnam campaign.  In 1961, President Kennedy sent Johnson to Vietnam to meet the people and assess the situation.  As vice president, Lyndon Johnson met Ngo Dinh Diem and called him the Winston Churchill of the 1960’s. Johnson told the Vietnamese we would stand by them, and his reports to the president reflected his strong belief that we had to make a stand in Vietnam.  As president, then, Johnson was inclined to fully support South Vietnam, including the introduction of U.S. troops if necessary.  There is no way to know if President Kennedy would have followed the same path as Johnson, but it is clear that he did not want to send troops to South Vietnam.
Questions for discussion:
 

1) There is an old saying,  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  How does this
     saying apply to the situation in Vietnam?

2) Knowing the chaotic situation in South Vietnam, what do you believe the United
    States should have done at the time?

3) Three weeks after Diem was assassinated, President John F. Kennedy was
    assassinated.  What do you believe would have happened if these two men had not
    been killed?

4) Do you believe the United States should have warned Diem a coup was about to
    take place and helped him defend himself?  Do you feel we should have provided
    him safe passage out of the country?  What would have happened if we had
    protected him?

5) Choose one of the following to answer:

 a) Explain an event in your life when you felt you had to support the lesser of two evils.

 b) Explain an event from history when someone had to support the lesser of two evils.