Ngô Đình Diệm was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam from 1955 until his capture and assassination during the CIA-backed 1963 coup d'état.
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon, before becoming a republic in 1955, the time when the southern portion of Vietnam was one member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. In 1976, the Republic of South Vietnam and North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Bảo Đại, born Nguyễn Phúc (Phước) Vĩnh Thụy, was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was de jure emperor of Annam and Tonkin, which were then protectorates in French Indochina, covering the present-day central and northern Vietnam. Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932.
Dương Văn Minh, popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. In 1963, he became chief of a military junta after leading a coup in which Diệm was assassinated. Minh lasted only three months before being toppled by Nguyễn Khánh, but assumed power again as the fourth and last President of South Vietnam in April 1975, two days before surrendering to North Vietnamese forces. He earned his nickname "Big Minh", because he was approximately 1.83 m (6 ft) tall and weighed 90 kg (198 lb).
The State of Vietnam was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country. The state claimed authority over all of Vietnam during the First Indochina War, although large parts of its territory were controlled by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Trần Thiện Khiêm was a South Vietnamese soldier and politician, who served as a General in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. He was born in Saigon, Cochinchina, French Indochina. During the 1960s, he was involved in several coups. He helped President Ngô Đình Diệm put down a November 1960 coup attempt and was rewarded with a promotion. In 1963, however, he was involved in the coup that deposed and assassinated Diêm.
Phan Khắc Sửu was a South Vietnamese engineer and politician who served as a minister in Bảo Đại's government of the State of Vietnam and as a civilian Chief of State of the Republic of Vietnam from 1964–65 during the rule of the various military juntas.
Phan Huy Quát was a South Vietnamese doctor and politician who served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam for four months in 1965.
Vũ Văn Mẫu was a South Vietnamese diplomat and politician, who was the last Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving under President Dương Văn Minh's leadership in 1975. He held the position for only two days before the collapse and surrender of South Vietnam on 30 April 1975.
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ was a South Vietnamese politician who was the first vice president of South Vietnam, serving under President Ngô Đình Diệm from 1956 until Diệm's overthrow and assassination in 1963. He also served as the first prime minister of South Vietnam, serving from November 1963 to late January 1964. Thơ was appointed to head a civilian cabinet by the military junta of General Dương Văn Minh, which came to power after overthrowing and assassinating Diệm, the nation's first president. Thơ's rule was marked by a period of confusion and weak government, as the Military Revolutionary Council (MRC) and the civilian cabinet vied for power. Thơ lost his job and retired from politics when Minh's junta was deposed in a January 1964 coup by General Nguyễn Khánh.
Phạm Ngọc Thảo, also known as Albert Thảo, was a communist sleeper agent of the Việt Minh who infiltrated the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and also became a major provincial leader in South Vietnam. In 1962, he was made overseer of Ngô Đình Nhu's Strategic Hamlet Program in South Vietnam and deliberately forced it forward at an unsustainable speed, causing the production of poorly equipped and poorly defended villages and the growth of rural resentment toward the regime of President Ngô Đình Diệm, Nhu's elder brother. In light of the failed land reform efforts in North Vietnam, the Hanoi government welcomed Thao's efforts to undermine Diem.
The Vietnamese National Army was a State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after the Élysée Accords, where the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. It was commanded by Vietnamese General Hinh and was loyal to Bảo Đại. The VNA fought in joint operations with the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) against the communist Việt Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh. Different units within the VNA fought in a wide range of campaigns including the Battle of Nà Sản (1952), Operation Hautes Alpes (1953), Operation Atlas (1953) and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954).
Đỗ Mậu was a Major general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), best known for his roles as a recruiting strategist in both the 1963 coup that toppled President Ngô Đình Diệm and the 1964 coup led by General Nguyễn Khánh that deposed the junta of General Dương Văn Minh. He was born in Quảng Bình Province.
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-supported State of Vietnam and later the Western-allied Republic of Vietnam. The DRV invaded Saigon in 1975 and ceased to exist the following year when it merged with the south to become the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Dr. Nguyễn Tôn Hoàn was a South Vietnamese Catholic politician, originally a physician, who led the Đại Việt Quốc Dân Đảng from the 1940s to the 1960s. He was active in South Vietnamese politics during that time, serving briefly as Deputy Prime Minister in 1964.
Đinh Xuân Quảng was a Vietnamese judge and a politician who helped institute a new constitution for South Vietnam. Đinh Xuân Quảng was one of the main advocates of the “Nationalist solution” in the efforts to regain independence from France after World War II – an independence which could ultimately be settled through negotiations and peaceful means. He participated throughout this resolution process and negotiated various agreements with France. His efforts led to the abrogation of the Patenotre Treaty in 1884 which had placed Vietnam under a protectorate of France.
The following is a list of political organizations and armed forces in Vietnam, since 1912:
Hà Thúc Ký was a South Vietnamese opposition politician. During the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison and arrested in October 1958, however, after the coup and assassination of Diệm in 1963, he was released by the rebel forces. He ran for president in the 1967 South Vietnamese presidential election, under the Đại Việt Revolutionary Party, a branch of the Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam and was unsuccessful. In 1974, after President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu amended the "Regulations of the Political Party" into law, Ký filed an application at the Supreme Court to sue President Thiệu, declaring that the law was unconstitutional.
