Word: minh
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...week progressed, Minh's backing became almost unanimous. Former Premier and Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, who just a month ago seemed to be making his own bid for power, began trying to organize pro-Minh sentiment within the armed forces. Politicians, religious and opposition leaders added their backing; even the powerful leader of the An Quang Pagoda group, the Venerable Thich Tri Quang, issued an unprecedented personal endorsement...
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...
...North Vietnamese firmly rebuffed the overture. Huong then made a dramatic, ceremonious appearance at South Viet Nam's National Assembly. Speaking in halting gasps, wearing dark glasses, he told the legislators that it was for them to decide if he should stay in office or make way for General Minh. "Now our ally has abandoned us and we have to defend our fatherland alone," he warned, "but by doing that Saigon may become a sea of fire and a mound of bones. I wish to avoid this...
Even as Huong was trying to tough it out, however, Minh's acceptance speech was being written. It would be realistic, said one of the general's associates, making no reference to the "lost" provinces or any hope of regaining them. It would reject U.S. "interference" in Viet Nam's internal affairs. Most important, it would suggest negotiations to set up a council for national reconciliation to organize national elections...