November 1, 1963: Ngô Đình Diệm is deposed in a coup.
The Catholic anti-Communist leader of the Republic of Vietnam was elected to the presidency in a fraudulent 1955 referendum following the end of the First Indochina War. Initially supported by the United States, Diệm proceeded to enact a brutal and authoritarian (but inefficient) regime that soon became a liability to Diệm’s own American backers. Though Diệm was initially regarded as a reliable ally against the Viet Cong due to his Catholicism and uncompromising anti-Communism, his repression of suspected political dissidents as well as the nation’s Buddhist majority sparked much unrest and insurgency. When the Buddhist crisis of 1963 (and Thích Quảng Đức’s iconic act of self-immolation) brought further international attention to Diệm’s regime, the Kennedy administration consequently decided to act and re-assess their policy toward the South Vietnamese government. Two months before Diệm was deposed by his own military officials, Kennedy and his officials discussed the implications of carrying out a coup. Although the administration denied direct connections to Diệm’s deposition, State Department documents indicate clear support for the coup, and a heavy investment in its outcome. Cable 243 asserted that Diệm’s brother could not remain in a position of power and also weighed “the possibility that Diệm himself cannot be preserved”.
The coup was led by two top ARVN generals - Dương Văn Minh and Trần Văn Đôn. Their forces successfully lay siege to the presidential mansion, capturing and assassinating Diệm and his brother. President Kennedy, who was himself assassinated three weeks later, expressed some moral culpability for their deaths. The 1963 coup was followed by further attempts to establish American-approved governments to replace Diệm’s, further coups, and further U.S. intrusion in Vietnam.