Word: premiered
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...approach of the June 30 fil- ing deadline for presidential candidates in South Viet Nam, the rivalry be tween Chief of State Nguyen Van Thieu and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky intensified. U.S. diplomats alerted Washington that trouble was imminent. Rumors of coup and counter-coup coursed through Saigon: Vietnamese marines loyal to Ky were said to be headed for the capital; 20 truckloads of pro-Thieu troops were reported en route to the city. Though the rumors proved false, the nation had good reason to be upset. A break between Ky and Thieu could have split the armed forces into...
Premature Politicking. Ky's abrupt comedown was precipitated by the mercurial Premier himself. Weeks before the official July 19 kickoff for presidential campaigning, Ky had begun electioneering. He appeared on radio and television, stumped the provinces and plastered posters everywhere. When U.S. officials protested his premature politicking, he ordered the posters removed-at least, he told a friend, "in the areas where Americans see them...
...make matters worse, Ky's police chief, Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, was accused of intimidating the Premier's opponents. Former Premier Tran Van Huong, the most popular civilian candidate for the presidency, refused to leave his seaside villa at Vung Tau because he feared that Loan's men would assassinate him. Increasingly, Ky's actions alarmed both South Viet Nam's top military officers and U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker. During a luncheon two weeks ago, Bunker gave the Premier a stern talking-to, warned him that he was undermining the fairness and legality...
What really enabled Thieu to face Ky down, however, was the fact that while the Premier had been busily bidding for popular support, Thieu was vigorously wooing the generals, reminding them of Bunker's warnings against a rigged election. When the meeting began, three of the Corps commanders were known to be neutral. The fourth, Lieut. General Le Nguyen Khang, commander of the critical III Corps area in and around Saigon, was thought to be a Ky man. But Khang failed to support Ky and the Premier realized that he had lost...
...race. That left Thieu and Ky overwhelming favorites to defeat the other 17 slates now in the running. "Big Minh" may poll a sizable number of votes in absentia, and Huong is expected to do well-but not nearly well enough. Thieu, in fact, may offer to appoint Huong Premier as another step toward unity and conciliation. As for Ky, whose withdrawal won wide praise as an act of genuine patriotism, he is expected to be given far more responsibility as Vice President than the new constitution calls for. Then, too, there is 1971 ahead-when Ky will still...