Ton That Thien - Government Service: 1954-1964

Government Service: 1954-1964

In May 1954, Thien joined the South Vietnamese delegation as an observer at the Geneva Conference. He then assisted at close quarters in the Vietnam-French negotiations in Paris regarding the transfer of control of major state organs to the new government. In Saigon he served as press secretary and official interpreter for Prime Minister, then President, Ngo Dinh Diem. For a brief period in 1955-1956 he went abroad, serving at the Vietnamese embassy in Paris where he got married. In the fall of 1955 he went to the U.S. where he was an instructor at Michigan State University which was initiating a major government contract to provide technical assistance to Ngo Dinh Diem's administration. Upon returning to Saigon in May 1956, he resumed his former duties. In his capacity as presidential press officer, he was the first government point of contact for American journalists reporting on the new state. He came to know almost all foreign correspondents posted in Viet Nam in those years.

In October 1959, Thien returned to Geneva for doctoral studies, graduating in June 1963 with a Doctorate in Political Science. While there, he was a member of the South Vietnamese delegation to the Geneva Conference on Laos in 1961 and 1962. He returned to Saigon in mid-July 1963 as Director General of the Vietnam Press, a position he held until 1964.

As a close aide to Ngo Dinh Diem, he was with the President on 1 November 1963 when the South Vietnamese military successfully launched a coup d’état which was condoned by the U.S. government. Ton That Thien witnessed the last meeting conducted between President Diem and Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge on the occasion of a courtesy call on the President by Admiral Harry Felt. Thien observed that the Ambassador kept the President preoccupied in discussions from 10.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. The coup was initiated at 01.00 p.m.