The relationship between the United States and Vietnam from 1954 to 1963 was through a man named Ngo Dinh Diem. United States saw Diem as a perfect candidate to lead the South Vietnam into democracy after the French have been defeated. The United States wanted to spread democracy into the eastern world. But some outside observer view this as an American imperialism movement.

Ngo Dinh Diem was born in 1901 near the ancient imperial capital Hue, Vietnam (then a French protectorate). Diem was into an aristocratic, Roman Catholic family with close ties to the Emperor Bao Dai. Diem's father was a prominent government official and adviser to the emperor, who had nominal rule under French control. The family was Catholic and Diem was educated in French schools, including the School of Law and Administration in Hanoi. Diem served in the Emperor's administration under the French colonial rule until 1933. During and after World War 2, Vietnam was occupied by Japan. After the Communist-led Viet Minh seized power from the Japanese in August 1945, Diem was offered a position in the government of Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh. Diem refused, seeing the Communist as a threat to his Catholic

The Geneva accords called for reunifying elections to be held throughout Vietnam in 1956, a prospect the United States feared since Ho Chi Minh was certain to win. With the support of the United States, Diem violated the accords by refusing to hold national elections. Elections were staged only in the South and resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly referred to as South Vietnam) with Diem as its first president. Also in violation of the Geneva Accords, United States military advisers were brought in to create and train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).

values and to his vision of an independent Vietnam. In 1950 Diem left Vietnam for self-impose exile. Diem spent several years in exile, making political contacts and gaining crucial American support in hopes of leading a postwar government. Diem eventually took up residence in the United States, where he came to attention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Eisenhower administration feared a Communist takeover Southeast Asia. They saw Diem as the sort of Vietnamese nationalist capable of countering the Communist Viet Minh, despite the fact that Diem was then largely unknown in his native land.

In April 1961 the United States signed a treaty of amity and economic relationships with the South Vietnam. In December 1961 the first U.S troops, consisting of 400 uniformed army personnel, arrived in Saigon; a year later, U.S military strength in Vietnam stood at 11,200. In the same year, Kennedy demonstrated America's commitment to South Vietnam by increasing the number of military advisers from 700 to 15,000 and ordering them into combat. Kennedy also warned "in the final analysis it is their (South Vietnam's) war. They are the one who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam". Kennedy soon realized that Diem was more interested in maintaining his own hold on power than in defeating the Communists and introducing democracy in the South.

The Diem government, meanwhile, proved unable to defeat the Communists or to cope with growing unrest among the South Vietnamese Buddhists and other religious groups. In 1963, when Kennedy was informed of a planned coup to overthrow Diem, Kennedy chose to leave the matter in the hands of the U.S ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., whom Kennedy knew to be in favor of the planned coup. The coup was called d'etat, which was conducted by a group of ARNV generals. The coup was successful, and Diem was killed on November 2, 1963, in a suburb of Saigon, in the back of the military personnel carrier. Diem was assassinated along with his brother Nhu while both attempted to flee.

Diem was inse

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Approximate Word count = 1815
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)