Episode 2: Eisenhower Backs Diem

Episode 2: Eisenhower Backs Diem

Eisenhower commits U.S. support for the new anti-Communist South Vietnamese government
The possible consequences of the loss [of Vietnam] are just incalculable to the free world. -President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954
After the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the 1954 Geneva Accords called for a temporary partition of Vietnam at the 17th Parallel—creating a Communist state in the North and a French-backed non-Communist state in the South. The agreement called for an election to reunify the two zones in 1956. Eisenhower believed “losing” South Vietnam to communism would be a strategic, economic, and humanitarian disaster. So he pledged support to an emerging leader—Ngo Dinh Diem—a devout Catholic and fervent anti-French, anti-Communist nationalist. Diem faced multiple threats: some members of his inherited government and military were associated with the hated French; mobsters controlled much of Saigon; and French-supported armed religious sects and military officers challenged his leadership.
Against all odds, Diem consolidated power. The “Diem Miracle” would prove to be short-lived, but Eisenhower’s decision to support him set the United States on a course that continued for another 20 years.
In this letter, President Dwight D. Eisenhower offered South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem financial support and encouraged him to make “needed reforms” to broaden his government and make it more representative.

Press release regarding letter from President Dwight Eisenhower to South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, October 26, 1954. Dwight D. Eisenhowe...Read more

Press release regarding letter from President Dwight Eisenhower to South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, October 26, 1954. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Read less
Key Dates
July 27, 1953: Korean War ends
March 13–May 7, 1954: Viet Minh defeat the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
August 1, 1954: End of First Indochina War (the Anti-French Resistance War)
April 28, 1955: Beginning of Battle of Saigon against Binh Xuyen gangsters
November 11, 1955: Military Assistance Advisory Group Vietnam is established (U.S. Government official start date of the Vietnam War)
May 1959: Construction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail begins on territory the North Vietnamese seized in Laos
January 1959: North Vietnam authorizes Southern communist cadres (“Viet Cong”) to engage in low-level insurgency
1960: Sino-Soviet Split: Break of relations between People’s Republic of China and Soviet Uni

“Anywhere there is communism, there is terrorism and assassination!” United States Information Agency poster, 1954. Records of the U.S. Informatio...Read more

“Anywhere there is communism, there is terrorism and assassination!” United States Information Agency poster, 1954. Records of the U.S. Information Agency
Read less

View in the National Archives Catalog
South Vietnamese President Diem received a rare honor when he arrived in Washington, DC, for a state visit—President Eisenhower personally greeted him at the airport.

President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greet President Diem, May 8, 1957. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Mu...Read more

President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greet President Diem, May 8, 1957. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
Read less

View in the National Archives Catalog

Black and white photograph of men greeting in front of an airplane

Download Show Transcript