He stated his commitment to preserving civil instead of military control in South Vietnam's government. Minh's dedication had impressed American advisors years earlier, however, when he had reportedly mortgaged his home and sold his car and furniture to finance under-funded army intelligence operations. It was clear the Americans were not content to let Minh continue raising orchids. In November , Minh led a military coup that toppled the Diem government, with the tacit approval of the United States.
Minh offered him safe conduct if he surrendered within five minutes, but Diem reportedly hung up and attempted to flee dressed in the robes of a Catholic priest. Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were later captured and killed, on orders from Minh, according to some accounts.
Friends of Minh said he had acted out of patriotism and outrage at Diem's attacks on Buddhist temples, not personal ambition. The Kennedy administration showed little surprise or regret, but simply remarked that it would have preferred to have the brothers survive in exile. The same qualities which endeared Minh to his people-his slow, diffident approach; his bashful, gawky demeanor; his honesty and integrity-quickly led Americans behind the scenes in Saigon and Washington to grow impatient. Under Minh, South Vietnam drifted into a serene normalcy, but this did not satisfy Americans who had hoped the pro-U.
When Minh demonstrated reluctance to play the role which American advisors deemed essential to secure the South Vietnamese countryside, king-makers grew impatient. President Lyndon Johnson sent Minh a pointed New Year's greeting, both pledging support and warning the general not to become soft on communism: "The United States will continue to furnish you and your people with the fullest measure of support in this bitter fight.
We shall maintain in Vietnam American personnel and material as needed to assist you in achieving victory … The U. On January 30, , Minh was toppled in a bloodless coup by General Nguyen Khanh, who soon received another message from Johnson: "I am glad to know that we see eye to eye on the necessity of stepping up the pace of military operations against the Viet Cong. Bitter at the sudden withdrawal of American backing, Minh refused to cooperate for several days and was detained in his home.
Students demonstrated in the streets demanding his return to power. Eventually he agreed to join Khanh's government as a figurehead. Before long, he was sent on a goodwill tour to Thailand and then refused reentry into Vietnam, effectively exiling him from his homeland.
By the end of , he had been forcibly retired from the military. Though Minh received a pension which allowed him to live well with his wife in Bangkok-raising orchids, writing memoirs, playing tennis, and receiving visiting dissidents from Vietnam-he was far from content. In May , he attempted to fly back to Vietnam but was humiliated when the Saigon airport refused him permission to land. In , Minh tried another tack.
In , he became leader of South Vietnam after a coup in which Diem was murdered. He briefly led South Vietnam again in before surrendering the nation to Communist forces.
He was a Buddhist. He went to Saigon where he attended a top French colonial school, where King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia had also studied. He began his military career in the s when he joined the French colonial army.
He was one of only 50 Vietnamese officers to be commissioned. In he joined the new South Vietnamese military. In he defeated the armed religious sect, Hoa Hao, that threatened the South Vietnamese regime, and the drug-dealing pirate organization Binh Xuyen. This got him the respect of the United States, and Minh was then sent there to study, where he attended the U. He was a military adviser to president Ngo Dinh Diem from to He added that he could not advise concerning the best of the three plans.
Minh stated that Hieu was formerly a Communist and still has Communist sympathies. When Col. Conein remarked that he had considered Col. Tung as one of the more dangerous individuals, Gen. Tung will be on his knees before me. Minh also stated that he was worried as to the role of Gen. Tran Thien Khiem since Khiem may have played a double role in August. Minh asked that copies of the documents previously passed to Gen. Khiem plan of Camp Long Thanh and munitions inventory at that camp be passed to Gen.
Minh further stated that one of the reasons they are having to act quickly was the fact that many regimental, battalion and company commanders are working on coup plans of their own which could be abortive and a "catastrophe". Minh appeared to understand Conein's position of being unable to comment at the present moment but asked that Conein again meet with Gen.
When the Franco-Vietnamese War broke out in , Minh remained loyal to the French and was subsequently promoted to the rank of officer and then general in the army which took over the struggle against the Communists in the south of Vietnam. Once the Geneva agreements had been signed in and Vietnam was partitioned, Minh faced a different task. To establish its authority over the whole of South Vietnam, the government called on the army to wipe out the guerrilla gang known as the Binh Xuyen as well as the armed forces of the Cao Dai religious sect.
These were battles in which General Minh was actively engaged and they increased his popularity in Saigon. As soon as President Ngo Dinh Diem had established himself as head of the republic he would brook no potential rivals for power.
He gradually started to undermine the standing of Minh and antagonism between the two men grew. It reached its peak in when Diem and his brothers, all of them fervent Catholics, provoked the anger of the majority Vietnamese Buddhists by seeking to ban some of their activities.
This caused a national crisis at a time when the Communists were becoming an increasing threat. What happened next is a matter of controversy. Some historians assert that it was the Americans who encouraged Minh and his fellow officers to stage a coup to oust Diem. Others claim it would have happened in any case because of the President's unpopularity. However in the coup of October , Diem and his influential brother Nhu were brutally murdered.
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