Amid religious protests that garnered worldwide attention, Diệm lost the backing of his U. S. patrons and was assassinated, along with his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu by Nguyễn Văn Nhung, the aide of ARVN General Dương Văn Minh on 2 November 1963, during a coup d ' état that deposed his government.

Madame Nhu, the wife of Diệm's younger brother Nhu, was South Vietnam's de facto First Lady, and a Catholic convert herself.

The poll was supervised by his younger brother, Ngô Ðình Nhu.

The main purpose of the new group was to help the Vietcong " acquire a new international stature ," according to Justice Minister Truong Nhu Trang.

Minh was reported to be mortified when he realised that Diệm and Nhu had escaped in the middle of the night leaving the rebels to fight for an empty building.

" Lodge believed Xuân was at least partly culpable, asserting: " Diem and Nhu had been assassinated, if not by Xuan personally, at least at his direction.

We had to kill Nhu because he was so widely feared — and he had created organizations that were arms of his personal power.

Conein asserted that Minh's humiliation by Diệm and Nhu was a major motivation for ordering their executions.

Thơ's acquiescence to and corruption under Diệm's presidency was also called into question, and he was accused of helping to repress the Buddhists by Diệm and Nhu.

Ngô Ðình Nhu (; 7 October 1910 – 2 November 1963 ) was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm.

In his early age, Nhu was a quiet and bookish individual who showed little inclination towards the political path taken by his elder brothers.

He was known for making such public statements as promising to demolish the Xá Lợi pagoda and vowing to kill his estranged father-in-law, Trần Văn Chuơng, who was the regime's Ambassador to the United States, after the elder man condemned the Ngô family's behavior and disowned his daughter, Nhu's wife, Madame Nhu.

Nhu was fooled by the loyalist General Tôn Thất Đính, who had turned against the Ngô family.

Nhu was the fourth of six sons, born in 1910.

In his early years, Nhu was aloof from politics and was regarded as a bookish and quiet personality who preferred academic pursuits.

Nhu was known for making long, abstract and difficult-to-understand speeches, something which many Vietnamese resented.

Although Nhu was known for his pretensions as an intellectual and political philosopher, he was to become quite effective as a political organizer.

Nhu was an opium addict and Adolf Hitler admirer.

Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo supervised these efforts, and when told that the peasants resented being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands and put into forts they were compelled to build, he advised Nhu it was imperative to build as many hamlets as fast as possible.

The U. S. did not want Diệm and Nhu near Vietnam " because of the plots they will mount to try to regain power ".

Nhu remained as its head until his own assassination.

Nhu and Tung, remained unaware of Đình's switch in loyalties and were fooled.

The generals knew very well that having no talent, no moral virtues, no political support whatsoever, they could not prevent a spectacular comeback of the president and Mr. Nhu if they were alive.

" Nhu had no idea that Đình's real intention was to engulf Saigon with rebel units and lock Tung's loyalists in the countryside where they could not defend the Ngô family.

Her family received further scorn as her sister, Trần Lệ Chi, who was married to Nguyển Hữu Châu had a French lover named Etienne Oggeri, and critics alleged that Madame Nhu introduced the laws so that her sister's husband could not get a divorce.

The generals knew very well that having no talent, no moral virtues, no political support whatsoever, they could not prevent a spectacular comeback of the president and Mr. Nhu if they were alive.

During this time, Diệm's sister-in-law, Madame Nhu, a Catholic convert and former Buddhist, the de facto first lady because of Diệm ’ s unmarried status, inflamed the situation by mockingly applauding the suicides, referring to them as “ barbecues ”, stating, “ If the Buddhists want to have another barbecue, I will be glad to supply the gasoline .” The pagoda raids stoked widespread public disquiet in Saigon.

The ARVN officers had reportedly originally intended merely to exile Diệm and Nhu, having promised them safe passage ".

During this time, his wife Madame Nhu, herself a Catholic convert from Buddhism and the de facto first lady ( due to Diệm's bachelor life ), inflamed the situation by mockingly applauding the suicides of Thích Quảng Đức and others, referring to them as " barbecues ", while Nhu stated " if the Buddhists want to have another barbecue, I will be glad to supply the gasoline ".

By this time, Diệm and Nhu knew that a group of ARVN generals and colonels were planning a coup, but didn't know Tôn Thất Đính was among them.

Nhu believed the rebel generals would not dare kill one of them while the other was free, in case the surviving brother were to regain power.

On 8 June 1963, Madame Nhu released a statement through the Women's Solidarity Movement accusing the Buddhists of neutralism, effectively accusing them of being communist collaborators.

Nhu labelled it a " barbecue " and stated, " Let them burn and we shall clap our hands.

A few days after the raids, Madame Nhu described the deadly attacks on the Buddhists as " the happiest day in my life since we crushed the Bình Xuyên in 1955 ", and assailed them as " communists.

President Diem and his brother Nhu, who oversaw the GVN side of the Program, decided — contrary to Hilsman's and Thompson's theory — that in most cases they would relocate entire villages rather than simply restructuring them.

Around 1953, Nhu began an alliance with Trần Quốc Bửu, a trade unionist who headed the Vietnamese Confederation of Christian Workers.

Nhu and his supporters began publishing a Saigon journal called Xa Hoi ( Society ), which endorsed Bửu's movement and trade unionism in general.

In late-1953, Nhu began to try to foment and exploit anti-Bảo Đại sentiment.

In 1962, Nhu began work on the ambitious Strategic Hamlet Program, an attempt to build fortified villages that would provide security for rural Vietnamese.

Lodge replied that there was no hope of Diệm removing Nhu, and began to make contact with possible coup plotters through CIA agents.

Nghia gave his account of what occurred during the journey back to the military headquarters: " As we rode back to the Joint General Staff headquarters, Diệm sat silently, but Nhu and the captain began to insult each other.