Biography of Ngo Dinh Diem, 1901-1963

In history, Ngo Dinh Diem has largely been viewed as a dictator, whose despotic and repressive regime to maintain power led Vietnam into a dangerous relationship with the United States and to a disastrous civil war. Born in 1901 when Vietnam was under the colonial rule of the French, Diem was part of an aristocratic Roman Catholic family with close relationships to the emperor. His father was a prominent government official and adviser to the Emperor, Bao Dai. Diem was educated in French Catholic schools, including the School for Law and Administration in Hanoi. …