Vietnamese President Diem and U.S. Reaction to His Election
Ngo Dinh Diem was born on January 3rd in 1901 in Hue, Vietnam. He attended law school in Hanoi and graduated in 1921. He was the first President of South Vietnam but before that gained popularity when he was the governor of the Phan-Thiet province and land reform and helped the poor. He was offered many positions of power but instead went into seclusion for 10 years and promoted the independence of South Vietnam. After an assassination attempt he traveled to the United States and in 1953 returned to Vietnam as Prime Minister under Boa Dai. After conflict, Diem and Boa Dai had an election to determine who would become the leader, and declared himself the leader of October 26, 1956 and built new schools and helped the poor, but oppressed the Buddhists so people began to revolt. After an uprising Diem and his brother fled through a tunnel, but were discovered by enemy troops and they were both assassinated.