1963 South Vietnamese Coup

1963 South Vietnamese Coup

In November 1963, President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of both the Buddhist crisis and the Vietcong threat.

The Kennedy administration had been aware of the coup planning, but Cable 243 from the United States Department of State to U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., stated that it was U.S. policy not to try to stop it. Lucien Conein, the Central Intelligence Agency’s liaison between the US embassy and the coup planners, told them that the US would not intervene to stop it. Conein also provided funds to the coup leaders.

The coup was led by General Dương Văn Minh and started on 1 November. It proceeded smoothly as many loyalist leaders were captured after being caught off-guard and casualties were light. Diệm was captured and executed the next day along with his brother and adviser Ngô Đình Nhu.

Read more about 1963 South Vietnamese Coup:  Background, Conspiracies, Rebel Troop Movements in And Around Saigon, Lodge, Harkins and Felt Meet With Diệm, Seizing Control of The 7th Division, Fighting in Saigon, Siege On Gia Long Palace, I Corps, Surrender and Execution of Diệm and Nhu, Reaction

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