Word: diem
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...absolute power - at least in theory. He promulgated a new constitution abolishing his previous post of Premier as well as that of figurehead Chief of State, which had been occupied by Khanh's predecessor. General Big Minh, the man who had fronted the original coup against Ngo Dinh Diem's regime. To avoid embarrassing comparisons. Khanh ordered his new title rendered in Vietnamese as Chu Tich (Chairman) rather than Tonf> Thont> (President), the title used by Diem...
...Buddhists, annoyed by Big Minh's surprising ouster, again threatened major trouble. The occasion: the first anniversary of Diem's now infamous police raids on the pagodas during last year's Buddhist uproar. Addressing 4,000 faithful in Saigon, Thich (Venerable) Tarn Chau vowed that "Buddhists will rise against the government if it begins to resemble the former Diem regime."* The Buddhists proceeded to make a series of difficult if not impossible demands, including elimination from the government of all former Diem officials and the final release of four generals whom Khanh had deposed when he took...
Khanh evidently took no part in the anti-Diem coup, though it is clear that he knew about the plot in advance. A week before the coup took place, he began to grow his black goatee. Apparently he did not like what he saw ahead, and a beard was his enigmatic symbol of future plans. After three months of watching the bickering and lethargy of the Big Minh junta, Khanh arrived in the capital to attend an officers' meeting, quietly rallied some fellow officers, including the commander of troops surrounding Saigon, and on the night of Jan. 30 pulled...
Aware that, like Diem, he has yet to capture the imagination of the countryside, Khanh week after week has stumped the backlands, pumping peasant hands, delivering speeches, doing what he could to rally the populace behind his Central Government. Last week, still at it, Khanh took time out to climb aboard his special DC-3 for a flying tour of the central coastal region. Dropping in on the fishing town of Hamtan, by the South China Sea-the first time in the republic's history that its head of government had visited the place-Khanh set the locals agog...
Things were going downhill sharply toward the end of Diem's regime, and they plunged even more sharply in the confusion that accompanied the two coups afterward. About last April, there were signs that the descent might have halted. Of late, while more aggressive government troops push into areas that had previously been Viet Cong sanctuaries, the overall level of guerrilla attacks has decreased slightly. Air power is being applied with increasing effectiveness. Possibly reacting to the increased pressure, the Reds are turning more and more to terrorism against peasants. There is the feeling among competent observers that...