Many senior officers, in particular the Catholics, such as Khiêm and Thiệu, decried what they viewed as a handing of power to the Buddhist leaders, They then tried to remove Khánh in favour of Minh, and recruited many officers into their plot.

The only obstacle to a settlement then became Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, whose government would have to assent to any agreement.

General Trưởng held communist forces at bay before Huế and then launched ( against the initial resistance of President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and MACV ) Operation Lam Son 72.

He was confident that his forces could hold Huế, but was then astounded by a late afternoon message from Thiệu that ordered " that because of inability to simultaneously defend all three enclaves, the I Corps commander was free ... to redeploy his forces for the defense of Đà Nẵng only.

In October 1965 the junta of Kỳ and Thiệu made Khiêm the Ambassador to Taiwan ; he served there until mid-1968, then returned to Vietnam and served under President Thiệu as Interior Minister for a year before becoming Deputy Prime Minister at the start of 1969.

Thiệu Trị had passed over his more moderate eldest son, Hồng Bảo, to give the throne to Tự Đức, known for his staunch Confucianism and opposition to foreigners and innovation.

When Nguyễn Văn Thiệu became president, Minh blamed him for the assassinations.

" Thiệu denied responsibility and issued a statement: " Duong Van Minh has to assume entire responsibility for the death of Ngo Dinh Diem.

Following the withdrawal of the French, the VNA became the ARVN and Thiệu was the head of the Vietnamese National Military Academy for four years before becoming a division commander and colonel.

During this time, he also converted to Roman Catholicism and joined the regime ’ s secret Cần Lao Party ; Diệm was thought to give preferential treatment to his co-religionists and Thiệu was accused of being one of many who converted for political advancement, although he claimed to have converted because his wife was a Catholic.

In 1967, a transition to elected government was scheduled ; and, after a power struggle within the military, Thiệu ran for the presidency with Kỳ as his running mate — both men had wanted the top job.

After the signing of the Paris Peace Accords — which Thiệu opposed — and the American withdrawal, South Vietnam resisted the communists for another two years until the communists ’ final final push for victory, which saw the South openly invaded by the entire North Vietnamese Army.

Ninh Thuận was taken over by the Japanese in 1942, but the reaction from the locals was muted, and Thiệu continued to work the ricelands alongside his father for another three years.

Thiệu later became known for his paranoia and distrust of his American allies when he rose to the top of politics.

In 1957, and again in 1960, Thiệu was sent to the United States for military training.

When Thiệu rose to become president, Minh blamed him for the assassinations.

" Thiệu stridently denied responsibility and issued a statement that Minh did not dispute: " Dương Văn Minh has to assume entire responsibility for the death of Ngô Đình Diệm.

Madame Thiệu, the First Lady, was seen weeping at a requiem mass for Diệm at the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica.

Khiêm and Thiệu sought out U. S. Ambassador Maxwell Taylor and sought a private endorsement for a coup, but Taylor did not want any more changes in leadership, fearing a corrosive effect on the already unstable government.

Thiệu and another Catholic General, Nguyễn Hữu Có, called for the replacement of Khánh with Minh, but the latter refused.

At this stage, Taylor and his staff in Saigon thought highly of Thiệu, Có and Cang as possible replacements for Khánh.

After one month, Thích Trí Quang began to call for the removal of Thiệu because he was a member of Diệm's Catholic Cần Lao apparatus, decrying his “ fascistic tendencies ”, and claiming that Cần Lao members were undermining Kỳ.

He had desired that General Thi, known for his pro-Buddhist position, would lead the country, and denounced Thiệu for alleged past crimes against Buddhists.

On 3 September 1967, Thiệu ran successfully for the presidency with Kỳ as his running mate.

On 1 February, Thiệu declared martial law, and in June, the National Assembly approved his request for a general mobilization of the population and the induction of 200, 000 draftees into the armed forces by the end of the year ; the bill had been blocked before the Tết Offensive.

Thiệu also established a National Recovery Committee to oversee food distribution, resettlement, and housing construction for the new refugees.

In 1971, Thiệu ran for re-election, but his reputation for corruption made his political opponents believe the poll would be rigged, and they declined to run.

Minh stayed away before deciding to return and challenge General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in the presidential election of 1971.

In 1971, Minh claimed that Thiệu had caused the deaths by hesitating and delaying the attack by his 5th Division on Gia Long Palace.

In 1968, he was caught out by the Tết Offensive due to complacency, and during the 1971 Operation Lam Sơn 719 and the communists ’ Easter Offensive, the I Corps in the north of the country was under the command of his confidant, Hoàng Xuân Lãm, whose incompetence led to heavy defeats until Thiệu finally replaced him with Ngô Quang Trưởng.

In 1971, Minh claimed that Thiệu had caused the deaths by hesitating and delaying the attack on Gia Long Palace, implying that if Diệm was captured there, junior officers could not have killed him while in a small group.

Their basis for this conclusion included: a belief that the South Vietnamese military was no longer combat effective ; the results of the fall 1967 South Vietnamese presidential election ( in which the Nguyễn Văn Thiệu / Nguyễn Cao Kỳ ticket had only received 24 percent of the popular vote ); the Buddhist crises of 1963 and 1966 ; well-publicized anti-war demonstrations in Saigon ; and continuous criticism of the Thieu government in the southern press.

His only real political rival was Vice President Ky, the former Air Force commander, who had been outmaneuvered by Thiệu in the presidential election of 1967.

General Creighton Abrams, the head of American forces in Vietnam, recommended Trưởng to President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, saying, " I can recommend, without any reservations at all … Trưởng.

President Thiệu made a nationwide radio broadcast that afternoon proclaiming that Huế would be held " at all costs ", contradicting the previous order.

Highly educated in the Confucian tradition, Thiệu Trị had some curiosity about the West, but like his father was very suspicious of all non-Chinese outsiders.

Thiệu gradually moved up the ranks of the junta by adopting a cautious approach while other officers around him defeated and sidelined one another.

Thao was hunted down and killed in mysterious circumstances by other factions with the military leadership, while Phát evaded capture for a few years before surrendering and receiving a pardon from Thiệu.

When it became obvious that Thiệu would rig the poll, Minh withdrew and did not return until 1972, keeping a low profile.

The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam ( Vietnamese: Chính phủ Cách mạng lâm thời Cộng hoà miền Nam Việt Nam ), or PRG, was formed on June 8, 1969, as an underground government opposed to the South Vietnamese government of President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu.

However, this was not something that Thiệu agreed with.

In April 1975, as South Vietnam was on the verge of being overrun, Thiệu resigned.

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; ; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001 ) was president of South Vietnam from 1965 – 75.

Born in Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm, Thiệu was a descendent of the Tran Dinh dynasty of Annamese nobles.

Diệm was captured and executed and Thiệu made a general.

During his rule, Thiệu was accused of turning a blind eye to and indulging in corruption, and appointing loyalists rather than competent officers to lead ARVN units.

Born in Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm on the south central coast of Vietnam, Thiệu was a son of a small, well-off landowner who earned his living by farming and fishing.

Thiệu was the youngest of five children.

According to some reports, Thiệu was born in November 1924, but adopted 5 April 1923, as his birthday on grounds that it was a more auspicious day.

When World War II ended, Thiệu joined the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh, whose goal was to liberate Vietnam from French colonialism.