Diem Assassinated: A Coup Escalates Vietnam's War
South Vietnamese generals overthrew President Ngo Dinh Diem on November 1, 1963, with tacit American approval. The coup came after months of Buddhist protests against Diem's Catholic-favoring policies, including self-immolations that shocked the world. Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu fled the presidential palace through a tunnel but were captured the next morning outside a Catholic church in Cholon. They were shot and stabbed in the back of an armored personnel carrier. Kennedy was reportedly shocked by the killings, though the CIA had been in close contact with the coup plotters. The assassination destabilized South Vietnam: seven more governments fell in the next two years. Without a strong local leader, the U.S. gradually assumed direct military responsibility, escalating from 16,000 advisors to 500,000 combat troops by 1968.
November 2, 1963
63 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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