State visit by Ngo Dinh Diem to the United States
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Prior to the visit, the US government and the AFV made thorough preparations to make Diệm's visit pleasant, and the AFV successfully lobbied the media to write favourable reports on the South Vietnamese leader. Diệm was trumpeted as a champion of democracy, and mentions of his autocratic style and election rigging were avoided. Diệm arrived by plane in Washington, D.C., on May 8, and was personally greeted at the airport by President
Diệm then visited New York City, where he was given a
The visit was the high point of relations between Diệm and Washington, as in later years, the US government and members of the AFV became increasingly disillusioned with Diệm's failure to liberalize his government and enact changes to make South Vietnam more democratic. The once-supportive media began to report on South Vietnam without overlooking problems in Diệm's administration. In 1963, American support for Diệm collapsed during the
Background
In 1933, Diệm had been the Interior Minister of Vietnam, serving under Emperor
Diệm had a chance meeting with
In 1954, the French lost the
Preparation
Diệm's trip came after two years of American attempts to schedule a state visit. In 1955, Washington made two attempts to organise a trip while Diệm was still prime minister, but he was too busy quelling opposition groups and his grip on power was tenuous.[21] Diệm addressed these issues by crushing the Bình Xuyên organised crime syndicate in the Battle of Saigon in May 1955, and then deposed Bảo Đại and proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam after his brother Ngô Đình Nhu rigged a referendum that made him head of state. Diệm was credited with 98.2% of the votes cast, with a 133% margin of victory in the capital of Saigon.[22] The South Vietnamese leader's visit was organized after he indicated interest in February 1957 to US Ambassador to South Vietnam Frederick Reinhardt.[23]
The Eisenhower administration prepared for Diệm's arrival in great detail. A memorandum from the Office of Protocol (OP) of the State Department gave its personnel detailed information on ceremonial intricacies, such as the correct pronunciation of Diệm's name. It went further in briefing staff on the toasting procedure.[23] The OP printed and distributed a manual detailing Diệm's personal traits and idiosyncrasies. It said the South Vietnamese president was "an introverted, lonely figure ... He is, however, a man with an almost messianic sense of mission".[23] In 1963, Diệm held a military parade in honour of his ascension to power in front of empty grandstands, barring the public.[24] The OP warned that Diệm could be "both intransigent and almost brutal in pursuing and applying policies he has decided upon, and ... has a violent temper."[23]
In contrast to public announcements describing Diệm as a freedom-loving democrat, the manual also explained his authoritarian attitude,
Media campaign
In the lead-up to the visit, the
The media prepared for Diệm's arrival by writing about and praising him in great detail.
Visit
Diệm arrived at noon on May 8 at the
Washington D. C.
The next day, Diệm addressed a joint sitting of the United States Congress, with both the House of Representatives and the Senate in attendance.[31] He thanked the US for its ongoing support, particularly when his government had been in a perilous state in 1954 and 1955, and went on to explain his political platform:
We affirm that the sole legitimate object of the state is to protect the fundamental rights of human beings to existence, to the free development of his [sic] intellectual, moral, and spiritual life. ... We affirm that democracy is neither material happiness nor the supremacy of numbers. Democracy is essentially a permanent effort to find the right political means in order to assure to all citizens the right of free development and the maximum initiative, responsibility, and spiritual life.[31]
Diệm also thanked the Americans for "the efforts being made to safeguard liberal democracy" as part of Washington's foreign policy.[26] He compared the million-strong exodus of refugees from communist North Vietnam into the South to that of the Pilgrims who had left the British Isles aboard the Mayflower and sailed to Massachusetts to escape religious persecution.[26] AFV advisers had inserted the Pilgrims reference into the speech, as the flight of the North Vietnamese refugees had received a great deal of attention in the US due to the statements of Catholic activists.[26] Diệm received a standing ovation and his speech was persistently interrupted by loud applause by legislators.[31] Despite his assertion that the weight of numbers was not the measure of democracy, the American media widely praised his attitude to democracy.[31] Both major parties lavished Diệm with praise. Senator Mansfield said, "The chief credit for holding back the communist aggression not only in Vietnam, but, because of that, in Southeast Asia as well, lies in the determination, the courage, the incorruptibility, and the integrity of President Diệm, who has shown such great ability and has accomplished so much against tremendous odds."[32] Mansfield's praise was given more weight than that of other senators because of his academic qualifications before entering politics.[33] Senator Jacob Javits, a Republican from New York, dubbed Diệm "one of the real heroes of the free world."[32]
President Eisenhower said, "President Ngô Đình Diệm stands for the highest qualities of heroism and statesmanship ... The president of Vietnam, by his inspiring leadership, is opening up vast new areas for the peaceful progress of mankind."[34] In a nationally-televised speech, Secretary of State Dulles said, "I am very much impressed by Prime Minister Diệm. He is a true patriot and dedicated to independence,"[35] referring to his defeat of the Bình Xuyên in the 1955 Battle for Saigon. The Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs Walter Robertson said, "Asia has given us in President Diệm another great figure, and the entire Free World has become the richer for his example of determination and moral fortitude."[35]
At the time the
On his third day in Washington, Diệm was the keynote speaker and guest at a National Press Club lunch. He attacked Asian leaders who advocated neutralism, saying that "Since communism is not neutral, we cannot be neutral."[31] This impressed the media, who prominently noted Diệm's unequivocal stance in their reports. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Marguerite Higgins of the New York Herald Tribune said that "it is a refreshing—almost startling—experience to hear this Asian hero assert forthrightly: 'communism isn't neutral, therefore we cannot be neutral.' ... He made himself unique among recent Asian visitors ... by the decisiveness with which he publicly chose up sides with the United States and against the communists."[37] In her article, Higgins again criticized the stances of Nehru and Sukarno.[37] Such was the impact of Diệm's soundbite that the AFV thereafter used it as a headline quote in their mailouts and campaigns.[37]
Diệm went on to answer a question about his religious convictions by declaring his adherence to Catholicism and saying, "I have always found the principles of my religion a great inspiration, and, if I have achieved anything in my political career, I owe it all to those principles."[38] His comments were widely trumpeted in Catholic newspapers, which cited them as the reason why he was able to stop a communist takeover of South Vietnam.[38]
The visit was largely ceremonial and mainly focused on mutual praise rather than specific policy planning and negotiations.[38] Diệm stayed in the capital for four days, meeting with Eisenhower and high-ranking members of the State Department on the last of these days.[28][38] However, the meeting with Dulles turned into a farce after the Secretary of State and his subordinates decided to visit Diệm at Blair House.[38] Diệm, notorious for monologues that often lasted for up to six hours,[32][39] talked endlessly, and as a result the American diplomats were unable to raise whatever issues they had wanted to discuss.[38]
During the meeting with Eisenhower, Diệm asked about the American commitment towards the defense of South Vietnam.
New York City
After leaving Washington, Diệm traveled to New York City, disembarking from the Columbine III at
Diệm then visited the
The next day, Diệm was given a
Diệm then met the
Diệm was given an award commemorating
Closing stages
Diệm then left New York City and traveled to Michigan State University, where he had stayed during a self-imposed exile in the early 1950s. Fishel worked at the university and helped Diệm secure a position there. On May 15, the South Vietnamese leader gave a speech to 4,000 people and received an honorary degree; Governor G. Mennen Williams decreed that day to be "Ngô Đình Diệm Day".[47][49] Diệm then visited Tennessee before stopping at Los Angeles for a banquet hosted by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.[49]
Diệm left the mainland on May 19,[49] and his final stop was in Hawaii, where he was a guest of Admiral Felix Stump, the commander of United States Pacific Fleet.[50] The reason for the visit was to discuss Diệm's concerns over America's reaction if South Vietnam came under communist attack. Stump reiterated Washington's opinions that nuclear weapons would be used to defend any anti-communist country that was attacked by communists, in accordance with public statements made by Eisenhower and Dulles. He said the Americans would do so by dropping nuclear weapons on communist China.[44]
Aftermath
The visit to the US was the high point in Diệm's relations with his primary sponsor. The Americans began to place increasing pressure on Diệm to carry out democratic reforms and liberalize the political system, particularly during the ambassadorship of Elbridge Durbrow. Diệm, however, resisted the calls to broaden the base of his government and continued to rig elections.[51] Meanwhile, in the US, his support among the AFV also declined, in part due to his ongoing authoritarianism and also because of his persistent complaints to them about negative media depictions of his regime; many Vietnamese leaders of various persuasions did not understand that Western governments did not control their own media.[52] Pressure also increased on Diệm at home, as the communists intensified their insurgency against him. In November 1960, discontent in his own army prompted a failed coup attempt by paratroopers. Although Diệm eventually organized for loyalists to put down the coup, he was angered by Durbrow's calls for him to try to negotiate a settlement, regarding the lack of support for his zero tolerance policy as a betrayal.[53][54][55]
In 1963, mass civil disobedience broke out due to discontent from the Buddhist majority over Diệm's discrimination against them, sparked by the fatal shootings of
See also
- United States-Vietnam relations
Notes
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 100–104.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 20–21.
- ^ Karnow, p. 231.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 22.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 23.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 25.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 26–33.
- ^ Karnow, p. 233.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 25–26.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 27.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 29–31.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 31.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 37.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 40–42.
- ^ Karnow, p. 235.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 38–39.
- ^ Karnow, p. 234.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 85.
- ^ a b c Karnow, p. 239.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 98–99.
- ^ Jacobs (2004), pp. 253–254.
- ^ Karnow, pp. 238–239.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jacobs (2004), p. 254.
- ^ Halberstam, pp. 19–21.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 86–87.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Fisher, p. 132.
- ^ a b c d Jacobs (2004), p. 255.
- ^ a b c d e f Jacobs (2006), p. 102.
- ^ a b c d Jacobs (2004), p. 217.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 42–44.
- ^ a b c d e Jacobs (2004), p. 256.
- ^ a b c d e Moyar, p. 77.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 31–32.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 100–101.
- ^ a b c d Jacobs (2006), p. 101.
- ^ Moyar, pp. 210–225.
- ^ a b c Jacobs (2004), p. 257.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jacobs (2004), p. 258.
- ^ Halberstam, p. 19.
- ^ Karnow, pp. 242–246.
- ^ Karnow, pp. 346–349.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 99–100.
- ^ Moyar, pp. 77–78.
- ^ a b Moyar, p. 78.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jacobs (2004), p. 259.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 26–31.
- ^ a b Jacobs (2006), p. 103.
- ^ a b c d e Jacobs (2004), p. 260.
- ^ a b c d Jacobs (2004), p. 261.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), p. 104.
- ^ Karnow, pp. 246–251.
- ^ Fisher, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Moyar, pp. 110–115.
- ^ Hammer, pp. 130–133.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 117–120.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 145–165.
- ^ Prochnau, pp. 310–330.
- ^ Langguth, p. 219.
- ^ Hammer, p. 157.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 162–163.
- ^ Karnow, pp. 303–304.
- ^ Halberstam, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Jacobs (2006), pp. 166–175.
References
- ISBN 978-0-7425-6007-9.
- Fisher, James T. (1997). "The Second Catholic President: Ngo Dinh Diem, John F. Kennedy, and the Vietnam Lobby, 1954–1963". U.S. Catholic Historian. 15 (3). Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press: 119–137.
- ISBN 0-525-24210-4.
- Jacobs, Seth (2004). America's miracle man in Vietnam: Ngo Dinh Diem, religion, race, and U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia, 1950–1957. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3440-2.
- Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-4447-8.
- ISBN 0-670-84218-4.
- ISBN 0-684-81202-9.
- ISBN 0-521-86911-0.
- ISBN 0-8129-2633-1.