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Learn about the U.S. government's prior knowledge of the military coup against and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

Learn about the U.S. government's prior knowledge of the military coup against and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

On November 1, 1963, South Vietnamese Pres. Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown and killed in a coup mounted by his own military with the prior knowledge of the U.S. government. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Transcript

[Sound of protesters]

NARRATOR: By September 1963 many Vietnamese considered the overthrow of Diem more important than the defeat of the Communists. On November 1, the Diem regime was toppled by a military coup. Diem and his brother were assassinated. Although the United States knew of the coming coup, it did nothing to stop it. Nor did it warn Diem.
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