Word: huong
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...disorganized political opposition while fighting a devastating war, tearfully announced his resignation. Soon afterward he departed for Taipei aboard a U.S. military transport; from there he was expected to fly into exile?possibly in England or Switzerland. Thieu was replaced by his aging and feeble Vice President, Tran Van Huong, 71. Almost immediately, the Communists imperiously declared Huong unacceptable. This development raised grave questions...
...Should Huong remain President, in defiance of the Communists, ready to fight if necessary but trying to open negotiations with the enemy? Should he step aside and make way for a new chief of state more acceptable to the conquerors at the gates? Would the Communists spare Saigon in any case? At week's end Huong still clung stubbornly to the presidency. But it seemed clear that Saigon would have to replace him or risk destruction. The almost certain successor: General Duong Van ("Big") Minh, the neutralist Buddhist who, in a still-remembered moment of glory, helped overthrow the dictatorial...
Despite this, a new snag soon developed. Most of Saigon's leaders urged that Minh become Premier in full charge of the government, with Huong remaining as nothing more than a symbolic head of state. From the beginning, however, Minh insisted that he be chief of state?with real powers...
After a vain two-day search for a substitute, the leading generals accepted Minh's conditions. But then a new obstacle appeared in the form of Huong himself. Asthmatic and nearly blind, Huong sensed a last opportunity to play a historic role. In his acceptance speech, he surprised everyone by vowing to "fight until the troops die or the country is lost" and to "be buried with his soldiers." While stubbornly insisting that he remain the legitimate President of South Viet Nam, he later seemed to adopt a less drastic position, promising to start negotiations with the Communists. The feeble...
...struggle." Since the election, he has been cloistered in his heavily guarded mansion at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airbase, where he is doubtless trying to map out his uncertain future. On Oct. 31, Thieu will be inaugurated along with his new Veep, Former Senator Tran Van Huong, and Ky will...