Word: thieu
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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SOUTH VIET NAM'S President Nguyen Van Thieu has never been a demonstrative sort, but last week he was clearly elated by President Nixon's address about the war. "It is the greatest and most brilliant speech I have ever known a United States President to make," said Thieu. His exuberance was understandable. Saigon has always bridled at the Viet Nam alternatives discussed in the U.S., such as a cease-fire or massive withdrawals by a specified date-and Nixon called for none of these. Though he refrained from mentioning or endorsing the Saigon regime, his promise that...
...While Thieu and his colleagues congratulated themselves, U.S. military men in Saigon matched up their on-the-spot view of the war with Nixon's assessment, which had filtered through the layers of State Department and White House bureaucracy. The consensus was that the President was generally close to the mark, though optimistic. If the military in Saigon had any reservation about the speech, it concerned the favorable statistics that Nixon cited-which could be reversed in a painfully short time if the Communists once more decided to intensify the conflict...
...Vietnamese Senator Tran Van Don invited some 300 Vietnamese to his home in Saigon's Cholon section to toast the anniversary of the 1963 overthrow of the Diem regime. Among the guests was General Duong Van ("Big") Minh, a popular leader of the 1963 plot and an old Thieu rival, who is regarded as the possible leader of a coalition government. Asked about his plans, he is quoted as replying: "You will see. I am ready to do anything to serve the cause of unity among my people." Don, who was the chief architect of the plot against Diem...
Forty-seven percent of the public would follow a prearranged withdrawal timetable, even if the Saigon government were to collapse as a result; only 38% would alter the schedule to save the Thieu regime. Among leaders, the commitment is even firmer: 56% opted to pull out in the face of a government disaster; only 31% agreed to stay...
Sixty-four percent of the public and 74% of the leaders favored replacing the Thieu government with one more representative of the South Vietnamese people. However, the public found itself nearly evenly divided when asked if it thought that the South Vietnamese army would fight better under a new government, while only a small plurality of the leaders felt it would...