Ngo Dinh Diem (1901 - 1963)
Malcolm Browne's Pulitzer prize winning photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc
November 2nd 1963: Diem assassinated
On this day in 1963, South Vietnamese President Ngô Ðình Diệm was assassinated. Diem was the first President of South Vietnam following Vietnamese independence from France. He was anti-communist and therefore had the support of the United States who feared the fall of the region to Communism. Diem was a Catholic, and pursued an aggressive policy towards Buddhists in his country. This led to high level of protests in Vietnam, most notably self-immolation by Buddhist monks. One of the most iconic images from this period of unrest was Malcolm Browne’s Pulitzer prize winning photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc (pictured above). The US withdrew their support for South Vietnam amidst the protests and soon after Diem was assassinated in a military coup. The United States had been steadily increasing its military presence in the country, trying to stem the tide of communist influence. This especially increased in 1964 after the Tonkin Gulf Incident, after which point the US was fully engaged in the war effort against Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Cong. The Americans began withdrawing troops in the early 1970s, and in 1975 Saigon ultimately fell to the Communists.
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