Duong Van Minh: Difference between revisions
imported>Bruce M. Tindall (was pres in 1975 not 1965, right?) |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (Titles varied, but he was chief or near-chief on more than two occsions.) |
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'''Duong Van Minh''' (1916-2001) was a Vietnamese general who | '''Duong Van Minh''' (1916-2001) was a Vietnamese general who led the 1963 overthrow of [[Ngo Dinh Diem]], was a power broker in several short-lived governments, and was the final President of the [[Republic of Vietnam]] in 1975. <ref name=NYT2001-08-08>{{citation | ||
| title = Duong Van Minh, 85, Saigon Plotter, Dies | | title = Duong Van Minh, 85, Saigon Plotter, Dies | ||
| first= Fox | last = Butterfield | | first= Fox | last = Butterfield | ||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
| date = August 8, 2001 | | date = August 8, 2001 | ||
| url = }}</ref> He was called "Big Minh", as he was enormous by Vietnamese standards, nearly 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. Since there were other generals named Minh, a nickname was needed to avoid ambiguity. | | url = }}</ref> He was called "Big Minh", as he was enormous by Vietnamese standards, nearly 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. Since there were other generals named Minh, a nickname was needed to avoid ambiguity. | ||
==Early South Vietnamese military== | |||
After joining the [[Army of the Republc of Viet Nam]] in 1954, two year s he commanded the defeat of the private armies of several quasi-autonomous Southern groups, including the religious [[Hoa Hao]] and [[Cao Dai]], and an organization somewhere between [[pirate]]s and a quasit-state, the [[Binh Xuyen]]. While these took place under the unpopular [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] government, they were seen, by the population, as different that conflict with Buddhist majorities in [[Buddhist crisis of 1963|1963]] and [[Buddhist crisis of 1966|1966]]. | |||
Elements of these private forces may then have joined the [[NLF]], not so much to be Communists as to fight Diem. <ref name=Pike-Oral>{{citation | |||
| date = June 4, 1981 | |||
| author = Douglas Pike | |||
| volume = Oral History interview by Ted Gittinger | |||
| publisher = Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library}}, pp. I-11 to I-12</ref> | |||
==1963 Coup== | ==1963 Coup== | ||
Revision as of 10:26, 23 November 2008
Duong Van Minh (1916-2001) was a Vietnamese general who led the 1963 overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem, was a power broker in several short-lived governments, and was the final President of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975. [1] He was called "Big Minh", as he was enormous by Vietnamese standards, nearly 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. Since there were other generals named Minh, a nickname was needed to avoid ambiguity.
Early South Vietnamese military
After joining the Army of the Republc of Viet Nam in 1954, two year s he commanded the defeat of the private armies of several quasi-autonomous Southern groups, including the religious Hoa Hao and Cao Dai, and an organization somewhere between pirates and a quasit-state, the Binh Xuyen. While these took place under the unpopular Ngo Dinh Diem government, they were seen, by the population, as different that conflict with Buddhist majorities in 1963 and 1966.
Elements of these private forces may then have joined the NLF, not so much to be Communists as to fight Diem. [2]
1963 Coup
He was the leader of the main generals, working through the conduit of CIA officer Lucien Conein to U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. His government lasted until January 1964, when he was overthrown, without fighting, by another Vietnamese general. Minh may have been replaced for wanting a more neutralist Vietnam than did the U.S. and his replacement.
Fall of South Vietnam
On April 30, 1975, he told Bui Tin, leader of the People's Army of Viet Nam forces that took the Presidential Palace, "I have been waiting since early this morning to transfer power to you." The response was "There is no question of your transferring power. Your power has crumbled. You cannot give up what you do not have." He was arrested and held until 1983, when he moved to France, and then the United States, where he died in 2001.