The History of South Vietnam; the Quest for Legitimacy and Stability

The History of South Vietnam This book provides an in- depth analysis of the political instability of South Vietnam between the two Republics and offers a valuable contribution to the study of the history of Vietnam as it focuses on a decisive period in the history of South Vietnam. A much- needed examination of the political environment of the Repub- lic of Vietnam between 1963– 1967, this book shows how South Vietnamese leadership failed to form a stable civilian government and to secure South Vietnam against the increasing threat by North Vietnam. Through a det ailed assessment of political difficulties during the period, the book suggests that, to prevent the imminent loss of South Vietnam to the Communist forces, the United States government did not have any other option than to escalate the war by committing its combat ground forces in the South and begin- ning the sustained bombing in the North. Moreover, the book analyses the administration of General Khánh and Prime Minister Phan Huy Quát and includes a full account of the War Cabinet of General Nguyễn Cao Kỳ. The achievements, the difficulties and the sudden death of the National High Council as well as the confrontation between the Buddhists and the Trần Văn Hương government are also explored. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of the contemporary history of Vietnam, the history of the Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnam War and Southeast Asian history and politics. Vinh- The Lam is Librarian Emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. His previous book with Hãn Nguyên Nguyễn Nhã Vietnam, Territoriality and the South China Sea: Paracel and Spratly Islands is also published by Routledge (2019). Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series The aim of this series is to publish original, high- quality work by both new and established scholars on all aspects of Southeast Asia. The Political Economy of Growth in Vietnam Between States and Markets Guanie Lim ASEAN and Power in International Relations ASEAN, the EU, and the Contestation of Human Rights Jamie D. Stacey The Army and Ideology in Indonesia From Dwifungsi to Bela Negara Muhamad Haripin, Adhi Priamarizki and Keoni Indrabayu Marzuki The 2018 and 2019 Indonesian Elections Identity Politics and Regional Perspectives Edited by Leonard C Sebastian and Alexander R Arifianto Embodied Performativity in Southeast Asia Multidisciplinary Corporealities Edited by Stephanie Burridge The History of South Vietnam The Quest for Legitimacy and Stability, 1963– 1967 Vinh- The Lam For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge- Contemporary- Southeast- Asia- Series/book- series/RCSEA The History of South Vietnam The Quest for Legitimacy and Stability, 1963– 1967 Vinh- The Lam First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Vinh- The Lam The right of Vinh- The Lam to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978- 0-367- 61889- 6 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 1-003- 10800- 9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by codeMantra Contents List of illustrations vii Foreword ix Acknowledgments xiii List of abbreviations xv 1 Introduction 1 2 The November 1, 1963 coup aftermath 7 3 The January 30, 1964 Coup of General Nguyễn Khánh 18 4 The rise and fall of General Nguyễn Khánh 31 5 Nguyễn Khánh Government 1964: a year of total chaos 38 6 High National Council 48 7 The Buddhists and Trần Văn Hương government 58 8 Phan Huy Quát government and the cabinet crisis of May/June 1965 64 9 Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Government: the War Cabinet 75 10 Moving toward the Second Republic 101 Appendix A: Biographical sketches of the Republic of Vietnam personalities 123 Appendix B: Temporary Charter No. 1 – November 4, 1963 139 vi Contents Appendix C: Temporary Charter No. 2 – February 7, 1964. Replacing Temporary Charter No. 1 – November 4, 1963 141 Appendix D: Charter of the Republic of Vietnam – August 16, 1964 (Vũng Tàu Charter) 143 Appendix E: Provisional Charter – October 20, 1964 151 Appendix F: Provisional Constitution – June 19, 1965 161 Bibliography 167 Index 171 Illustrations Figures 2.1 The MRC at a Press Conference chaired by Lieutenant- General Dương Văn Minh 8 7.1 Trần Văn Hương cabinet with Chief of State Phan Khắc Sửu on January 21, 1965 after the reshuffle of January 18, 1965 58 8.1 Phan Huy Quát cabinet with Chief of State Phan Khắc Sửu on February 16, 1965 64 10.1 President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Vice- President Nguyễn Cao Kỳ at inauguration ceremony on October 31, 1967 117 Table 10.1 Election of CA – Distribution of Votes 104 Foreword It is my great pleasure to introduce this book History of South Vietnam: The Quest for Legitimacy and Stability, 1963– 1967. The work is the first study to examine politics in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) during the years between the fall of the First Republic under President Ngô Đình Diệm and the founding of the Second Republic under the leadership of President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. This was a chaotic period that witnessed severe political instability. On one hand were ambitious colonels and generals who schemed to seize power via coups. Some succeeded and others failed. On the other hand were var- ious religious and other civil society groups who violently protested on the streets to demand political representation and accountability. In addition, several political parties and their regional factions, which lacked mass bases of their own, sought to position themselves between the military and the Buddhist movement. None turned out to be able to stay in power for long. Amidst that political turmoil, two external forces, the Communists and the Americans, further muddied the water. The former attempted, through escalating combat and terrorist activities, to aggravate the situation to pave the way for a takeover, while the latter sought to stabilize the situation for a possible expansion of the war with a larger role for US forces. A Communist agent, Col. Pham Ngoc Thao, led a failed coup that might have resulted in a quick takeover of the South by Hanoi had it been successful. In contrast, the United States invested greatly in General Nguyen Khanh only to find out that he was inept and unreliable. Both examples suggest that external forces added to the chaos but did not achieve what they wanted. By 1965, after the departure of General Nguyen Khanh from the scene, the situation became more stable with a core group of generals, the so- called “Young Turks,” in control of government. Social unrest continued and reached a climax in 1966 when the government under General Nguyen Cao Ky confronted a popular revolt in central Vietnam led by Buddhist monks and supported by a military faction. Out of the crisis, in which the Ky government prevailed, was the move of the authorities to promulgate a new, liberal constitution and the democratic elections of a legislature and the president of the Second Republic in 1967. x Foreword Despite all the turbulence, the period between the two Republics was a significant period in the history of South Vietnam and Vietnam in general. For South Vietnam, it was a time when massive social energies were released after having been held back for many years by the Ngo Dinh Diem regime. As political parties were legalized, civil society groups proliferated and the press thrived. It was a period when the basis of a modern liberal order was created even though that order was still unstable and would face significant challenges later on. For the history of Vietnam, this period can be likened to the 1945– 1946 period when a similar level of intense social and political interaction took place. In both periods a great power vacuum suddenly appeared after years of political immobility. In 1945, the Communists were able to seize power and slowly extinguished their rivals in the North by the summer of 1946 before war began at the end of the year between them and the returning French. The period 1964– 1967 also took place in the middle of a war but ended with a more positive outcome: social forces were able to make the military accept a liberal political system in which their participation was legitimate and institutionalized. The literature on the RVN that existed from 1955 to 1975 is extremely lim- ited. For a long time, orthodox American historiography was influenced by propaganda from Hanoi and dismissed the Saigon regime as a mere creation of the United States in its strategy to contain communism in Asia. Lacking indigenous roots, America’s “South Vietnamese project” was considered doomed from the start. To most American diplomatic historians, there is no need to study the RVN since it can be assumed that the Americans called all the shots.

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